Search for the Crystal Stars
by Griphy
Summary: After mysterious shadowy entities attack, Mario and Luigi must embark on a journey to recover the Crystal Stars before the entire world is consumed by shadow.
1. Scattered

Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Welcome to the prologue of Search for the Crystal Stars! If you ever visited the old Mario fansite Lemmy's Land, you might be familiar with a story called Super Mario Bros: Search for the Crystal Stars. Well, I wrote that story back in 2008, but eventually stopped writing it. I tried to finish it in 2012, but only wrote one chapter before stopping again. Now, instead of continuing the 8-year old story, I've decided to rewrite it in accordance with the writing standards of 2016. I'll post new chapters every Friday; even though I've already written the first three chapters, I want to have a backlog to draw upon in case I get writer's block or circumstances prevent me from writing. Any and all criticism is welcomed. Enjoy!

* * *

The sun set on the city of Toad Town, the capital of the Mushroom Kingdom. Near a small house, a person wearing blue overalls, a green shirt, and a green cap with an L on it sat perched on a small fence watching the sunset.

"Wow…" Luigi said to himself. "The sunsets here in Toad Town never fail to amaze me, no matter how many times I see them…"

Just then, a sound came from the nearby warp pipe, and Mario came up it. "Mario!" Luigi called out. Luigi jumped down from the fence and went over to where Mario was ascending the stairs leading up to the house's door. "How was Mushroom Palace?"

"Oh, you know," Mario said. "Just a meeting with the princess's advisors. Nothing too special." Mario had been briefing Princess Peach's advisors on his recent adventure in Rogueport to collect the Crystal Stars and defeat the X-Nauts.

Luigi nodded as they went inside the house. Mario went to the back of the house and knelt down, then took out what looked like a piece of the wall, but was actually a covering which concealed a large combination safe. Mario entered the combination on the lock, then pulled it open to reveal ten small safes sitting inside the large safe. Each safe was numbered from zero to nine. Three safes held Bob-ombs in them that would immediately detonate if they were opened; the seven others each contained a Crystal Star. Mario took out each safe with a Crystal Star on it, opened it up, and checked to make sure the artifacts were still in there.

"You know, Mario, I don't think you should so obsessively check whether or not the Crystal Stars are still in your safe every night," Luigi said.

"It's too risky to not check," Mario said as he replaced the Emerald Star's safe and took out the Gold Star's safe. "These stars are extremely powerful. I saw their power firsthand. I wielded their power. We can't risk them falling into the wrong hands."

"Yeah, I know. I just think you're being a little-" A sudden crash outside the house interrupted Luigi.

Mario instantly sprung to his feet and said, "Secure the Crystal Stars! I'll check on that noise." Luigi nodded and rushed to the safe as Mario dashed outside.

As Luigi closed the safe that Mario had been inspecting and put it back in the larger safe, he suddenly noticed something. Just then, the window of the room smashed, and a bolt of shadowy energy smashed into the green-capped plumber, knocking him out cold!

Two shadowy figures then jumped into the room. "Heh," one chuckled. "Too easy." It knelt down by the safe, took out a device, and pointed it at the safes. X-rays came out of the device, identifying which safes had Crystal Stars in them and which ones were booby trapped with Bob-ombs. "Help me get these out of here," the shadowy figure said to the other.

They took out all the safes with Crystal Stars in them and lined them up on the floor. Then, one of them took out what looked to be a ray gun, and fired it at the row of safes. The heat from the beam melted the metal of the safes, leaving the Crystal Stars intact.

"Alright!" one of the shadowy figures said triumphantly as they began pocketing the Crystal Stars. As it picked up the Crystal Star, it said, "Hey, that's only six. Where's the last one?"

"Right here!" a voice came from the door. The shadowy figures turned to see Mario standing there with the Ruby Star!

"Gah! Mario!" one of the shadowy figures exclaimed. "We were hoping we wouldn't have to fight you…oh well. I guess we'll just have to take you out!" The shadowy figures leapt at Mario. Mario jumped to the side and took out his hammer. One of the shadowy figures fired a bolt of energy at Mario, but Mario deflected it with his hammer, sending it ricocheting into the roof, where it caused a small explosion. The shadowy figure then took out its own hammer, which was cloaked in shadows as well, and leapt at Mario. Mario's Ultra Hammer and the shadowy figure's shadowy hammer collided as Mario raised his hammer to parry the attack. The shadowy figure then did an underhanded hammer blow to Mario's legs, knocking the hero on his back a short distance away.

Mario rolled out of the way of a hammer smash and kicked the shadowy figure's legs, causing it to fall to his knees. Mario jumped to his feet and swung his hammer at the shadowy figure's head, but it moved its head to barely avoid the attack and held his hammer up in between Mario and the Ultra Hammer's hammerhead. It then forced the Ultra Hammer out of Mario's hands, jumped up, spun around, and smashed its fist into Mario's face, causing Mario to stumble back a bit.

"Say goodbye, Mario!" the other shadowy figure taunted. Mario looked and saw that the Crystal Star was about to unleash a Supernova attack on him! Mario took out the Ruby Star and held it in front of him. A massive beam of energy came out of the Crystal Star and smashed into the Ruby Star. The Ruby Star barely held the Supernova attack at bay. To counter it, Mario used the Ruby Star's Art Attack ability. A beam of energy shot out from the Ruby Star, pushing the Supernova attack back, and the two beams battled each other halfway between Mario and the shadowy figure. A few seconds later, a massive explosion occurred, knocking Mario, Luigi, and the shadowy figures back, and completely leveling Mario's house!

"Gah…" one of the shadowy figures groaned as it struggled to get up. Suddenly, it noticed that the Crystal Stars were gone! "What?! Where'd the Crystal Stars go?!"

"The energy of that explosion caused them to scatter!" the other shadowy figure said. "Oh, not good…the boss won't be pleased with this…"

"Heh…no matter," the other shadowy figure said. "We'll just find them before Mario can. Luckily, we'll only need to find six, since I managed to hold on to this!" The shadowy figure showed off the Crystal Star. "See you later, Mario!"

"No!" Mario shouted. He leapt at the shadowy figures, but they teleported away, causing Mario to smash into the wood floor.

"Agh…" Luigi murmured as he slowly got up. Suddenly, he noticed the effects the explosion had wrought on the area. "Uh…Mario…"

Mario got up and turned to Luigi. "Luigi! It's good to see you survived that explosion."

"Uh, yeah…I survived it, but…uh…where's our house?"

Mario suddenly realized what had happened to the house. "Ah…shoot. This'll probably be thousands of blue coins of repairs."

"Repairs?" Luigi repeated. "The house is leveled! We'd be better off building a new house!"

"Yeah, but that's beside the point. Those shadowy figures…they caused the Crystal Stars to scatter! The only one that didn't scatter was the Crystal Star, and they have it!"

"Really?" Luigi asked. "That's…not good. Now I feel bad for thinking you were being too paranoid about checking them every night."

"Come on," Mario said as he began to dash to the warp pipe connecting their house and the entrance of Toad Town. "We've got to get to the city. I think I know someone who can help."

* * *

The two shadowy figures who had assaulted Mario's house stood in a dark, lightless room cloaked with shadows. Though ordinary people would be completely blinded in such a room, these shadowy figures perceived the darkness as though it was light, their eyes seeing the room as though it was brightly illuminated.

Just then, over on a balcony up top, a door opened, and another shadowy figure stepped out. "So, Shadow Luigi, Shadow Peach, you failed?" he asked.

"Not exactly," Shadow Luigi said. "We failed in securing all seven of the Crystal Stars, but we did secure the Crystal Star and scatter the rest."

"Yes," Shadow Peach said. "Our forces should be sufficient to collect the remaining six Crystal Stars before Mario can."

"Do we know where the Crystal Stars have scattered to?" the shadowy figure asked.

"No," Shadow Luigi said. "However, since we have one of the Crystal Stars, I should be able to design a device which tracks the unique energy signature of the stars. Basically, it would be a Crystal Star radar."

"Good," the shadowy figure said. "Shadow Luigi, as soon as your radar is completed, I want you to go for the first Crystal Star it detects. Shadow Peach, I want you to continue the conversion and coordination of our armies."

"Yes sir," both of them said.

"Dismissed."


	2. Adventure's Beginning

Mario and Luigi walked through the quiet streets of Toad Town, the city dimly illuminated by the light of the moon and streetlights. They stopped in front of a blue house with a spinning roof. Mario knocked on the door. A voice came out from inside the house, "Merlon is out!"

Mario moved to the side of the door and knocked again. The voice from the house yelled, "Why do you keep on knocking? I'm telling you he's out!" The door suddenly swung open, startling Luigi and knocking the green-capped hero to the ground.

"What the?" Merlon said as he looked at Luigi lying on the ground. "Why is someone sleeping outside my house?"

"Merlon!" Mario said.

Merlon turned around and said, "Ah, Mario! I've been waiting for you. Come in."

Mario nodded and walked in as Luigi got up, groaning in pain, and quickly followed his brother inside. Inside Merlon's house, Merlon moved behind the table with his crystal ball on it as Mario and Luigi sat on two chairs that had been positioned in front of the table. "I have seen the battle that took place at your house," Merlon said. "I was about to go to bed for the night, when my crystal ball began shining and alerting me to the situation. These shadow creatures that attacked you…I know not who they are or where they came from. In fact, they don't even appear to be from this dimension at all."

"They scattered the Crystal Stars," Mario said. "I was hoping you'd be able to tell us where they are."

"Indeed, I can," Merlon said. "However, before you begin your adventure, I must tell you important information. It's a very long tale, but I'll shorten it to the most essential parts. It all started many years ago, when I was but a boy. The presence of the stars was powerful in our world…but one day it happened…suddenly…I..."

As Merlon's tale went on and on, Mario and Luigi began to drift off into sleep, tired from both the exhaustion of the battle and from Merlon's long story. Several minutes later, Merlon concluded, "…and that is all you need to know. Do you understand?"

Mario and Luigi quickly woke up and nodded their heads, hoping Merlon wouldn't realize they fell asleep.

"Good. Like I said, I shortened the tale to the most essential parts, so I was worried you might not get it. Now, my crystal ball is showing that the first Crystal Star is in the clutches of a large, raging fire turtle…"

"Bowser!" Mario said.

Merlon then asked, "Do you still have the Magical Map?"

"Yeah," Mario said, pulling it out of his overalls pocket. "I brought it just in case."

"Once you collect the first Crystal Star," Merlon said, "it will track the next one and embed its location into the Magical Map. The map should automatically change the land it shows to be the land where the Crystal Star is. This way, you should be able to collect the Crystal Stars in relatively short order."

"Alright," Mario said as he and Luigi got up. "Thanks for your help, Merlon!"

As the two brothers began to leave, Merlon said, "Be careful. My crystal ball shows that these shadowy beings are not to be underestimated."

Mario and Luigi nodded and left. "So," Luigi began, "what's the fastest way to Bowser's Castle?"

"If we buy two Warp Whistles," Mario said, "we'll be there in no time. I'll have to make a withdrawal from the bank, though."

Mario and Luigi walked to the other side of town, where the Mushroom Bank was. As they got there, though, they saw a green bean-like person robbing the bank!

"Hey, you!" Mario shouted. "Stop!"

The Beanish person, who had his back to the Mario Bros, said, "Heh! Who is it that would try and stop Popple, the great Shadow Thief, from pulling off the greatest heist of his career?" When he turned his back to face the Mario Bros, he exclaimed, "Mario?! And…that other green guy?! Boo! Boo, I say! But you two won't be stopping me this time, see?"

"We'll just see about that!" Mario said. "Let's-a go!"

"Bring it on!" Popple shouted. Popple charged at Mario. Mario leapt over Popple, turned around, and quickly punched Popple in the face. Popple jumped backwards a bit and began running in place, building speed until he zoomed at Mario. Mario couldn't react quickly enough and was knocked to the ground by Popple's attack.

"Augh…" Mario said as he got up. "You've gotten better."

"This battle hasn't even begun!" Popple said. Luigi jumped at Popple, but Popple dodged to the side and kicked Luigi to the ground. Luigi jumped up, leapt backwards, and began firing multiple electricity orbs at Popple. Popple tried to dodge then, but ended up getting hit by one, shocking him. While Popple was paralyzed in place, Mario took out his Ultra Hammer and smashed it into Popple, before smacking Popple away.

"Grah…" Popple said. "This isn't over yet!" Popple took out a light brown sack and began tossing coins out from it. Mario and Luigi collected all the coins that Popple threw at them, but then, Popple tossed out a poison mushroom, causing Luigi to accidentally poison himself!

"Ack!" Luigi cried out.

"Luigi!" Mario shouted.

"Heh!" Popple said. "How do you like them apples?"

Popple then tossed another poison mushroom at Mario, but Mario grabbed it without triggering its poison effect and tossed it back at Popple! "NO!" Popple shouted as the poison triggered on him and caused his green skin to take on a shade of purple.

 _Alright,_ Mario thought. _Now I just have to outlast him._ Popple charged at Mario, but Mario jumped to the side. Popple then took out a Bob-omb from his bag and threw it at Mario, but Mario grabbed it and threw it upwards, where it exploded harmlessly. As Mario did that, Popple tried to sneak around him and attack him from behind, but Mario ran forward immediately after throwing the Bob-omb, and Popple's punch fell short. The momentum Popple had from throwing the punch combined with the poison sapping away at his health caused Popple to fall onto the road, defeated.

"Alright! I did it!" Mario said in victory, adjusting his cap and giving a thumbs up. He went to where Popple was lying and picked up Popple's bag, rummaging through it until he found a Refreshing Herb. He used the item on Luigi, curing his brother's poison.

"Ahhh…" Luigi sighed as his poison went away. "Thanks, bro."

"No problem," Mario said. "Now," Mario picked up the sack of coins that Popple was about to steal, "let's return these to the bank manager."

A few minutes later, Mario and Luigi were in the Mushroom Bank manager's office. "Oh, thank you so much!" the manager said as Mario handed the coin sack to her. "I don't know what I would've done if that thief had gotten away with all these coins!" She pulled open a drawer, took out a Life Shroom, and gave it to Mario. "Here. It's the least I can do."

"Thanks!" Mario said as he pocketed the Life Shroom. "Alright," Mario said to Luigi, "let's make that withdrawal, and then we can head to the shop."

Several minutes later, Mario had gotten 30 blue coins out of the bank, and they were at Harry's Shop on the southern end of Toad Town. Mario laid out 20 blue coins on the table, the equivalent of 768 gold coins. Harry T, the shopkeeper, counted each one, and said, "Twenty blue coins. Select any other items you'll be buying; let me go get the Warp Whistles." Harry T. took out a key and unlocked the storage room, then went inside.

"I've still got ten blue coins," Mario said. "What else should we buy?"

"Hmm…definitely more Refreshing Herbs," Luigi said, picking a pack of six off the shelf. "I don't like being poisoned."

Mario chuckled and said, "I'll grab some Super Shrooms too, in case we ever need healing." Mario got six Super Shrooms, enough for three for each of them.

"And some Fire Flowers," Luigi said, getting six Fire Flowers.

"We have a lot of items, and we're going to be carrying around even more stuff when we start collecting the Crystal Stars," Mario said. "I'll get this backpack to carry the items in." Mario grabbed a small red backpack.

Just then, Harry T. returned with two Warp Whistles in hand. "Here you go," he said, giving them to Mario. "Anything else?"

"Yep," Mario said as he and Luigi put the items they wanted on the counter.

Harry T. took out a calculator and said, "It comes out to 9.55 blue coins exactly." Mario gave Harry T. his remaining 10 blue coins, and Harry T. gave Mario 29 gold coins in change. "Thanks for the business!"

Mario and Luigi left the shop. "Ready to do this?" Mario asked Luigi. Luigi nodded. "Hang on to me!" Mario took out one Warp Whistle and played it. A small whirlwind came by, picked up Mario and Luigi, and flew away to the Warp Zone.


	3. Raid on Bowser's Castle

The air of Dark Land was dark and filled with ash from the several nearby volcanoes. Thick clouds covered most of the sky, allowing few rays of sunlight through. The land was dimly illuminated by lava which flowed freely among the molten rock and stone of the Koopas' ancestral home.

A whirlwind flew by, depositing Mario and Luigi on the top of a small hill before dispersing a few meters away. Mario looked to the distance and saw Bowser's Castle, the home of the Koopa King from whence he commanded his vast armies. The castle had a moat of lava around it and was surrounded by four columns of lava pouring down from above; it was connected to land by a wooden bridge.

"Well, this looks like the place," Mario said. "Let's get in there and get that Crystal Star."

Luigi nodded, and the two dashed down from the hill they were perched on. They moved quickly and stealthily through the terrain of Dark Land, careful to avoid any patrolling Hammer Bros or Koopatrols. The Koopas didn't seem to be on alert; the tanks which normally crawled the place were mostly absent, and the few battleships floating on the lava seas were ill-prepared to battle if they needed to.

Mario and Luigi snuck to the bridge connecting to Bowser's Castle and saw that it was guarded by two Koopatrols. "You get the right one," Mario said to Luigi. "I'll get the left one."

Luigi nodded, and the two brothers both silently counted down from three. At zero, they both sprung from their hiding spots, jumped in the air, pulled out their hammers, and slammed them down onto the Koopatrols. The Koopatrols reacted quickly and ducked into their shells, but the Mario Bros quickly pulled their hammers around and did horizontal swings at the Koopatrols. The Koopatrol that Mario swung at was flung clear into the lava, while the Koopatrol that Luigi swung at managed to jump over the hammer swing. The Koopatrol got back on his feet and threw his spear at Luigi, which Luigi ducked under. Mario then hit the Koopatrol from behind with his hammer, knocking the Koopatrol onto its stomach. Luigi then smashed his hammer into the Koopatrol, sending it flying away.

"Alright!" both Mario Bros exclaimed in victory. They looked at each other and nodded, then dashed across the bridge to Bowser's Castle.

Mario and Luigi opened the dark red double doors of the castle and stepped inside the foyer of the castle. As they entered the dim room lit by torches, they saw two Hammer Bros guarding a door that led deeper into the castle. "Ahhh!" one of them exclaimed. "It's Mario and his brother! But…we weren't expecting an attack!"

"We have to go report to King Bowser!" the other Hammer Bro said. The two dashed through the door. Mario and Luigi followed them to the next room, which was basically a swimming pool of lava with multiple Podoboos hopping out of the lava at random intervals and floating platforms that you had to jump across in order to make it to the other side.

"Watch your step," Mario said as he took the first jump towards one of the floating platforms. As he jumped onto the next one, Luigi prepared himself, and then leapt onto the one that Mario had been on, just barely avoiding overshooting and falling into the lava. He breathed a sigh of relief, then followed Mario, jumping from platform to platform.

Mario began to jump towards another platform, but it suddenly disappeared! "Woah!" Mario exclaimed as he just barely managed to stop himself from jumping. However, Luigi was expecting Mario to jump, so he jumped onto the same platform that Mario was on, bumping Mario towards the lava! "Ahhh!" Mario shouted as he teetered on the edge of the platform, only barely managing to regain his balance.

"Sorry, bro!" Luigi said.

"No problem," Mario said. "Just stay two platforms behind me from now on." Luigi nodded, and when the next platform became tangible again, Mario leapt towards it, then quickly jumped to the next one just before it disappeared again. Luigi followed suit once the platform had appeared again, and in short order, the two brothers made it to a straight shot of floating platforms to the end of the room.

"We're almost there!" Mario shouted to Luigi. Mario jumped to the next platform, but suddenly, a Podoboo shot up in the lava nearby and shot a fireball at him! Mario was hit dead-on by the fireball and yelped in pain, only barely managing to grab onto the edge of the platform and pull himself up. The next platform was another one that disappeared and reappeared periodically, and just as it disappeared, another Podoboo jumped out of the lava and spat a fireball at Mario. Mario jumped over the fireball, then jumped to the next platform when it reappeared. Mario and Luigi repeated this pattern, dodging the fireballs the Podoboos shot at them and jumping onto the next platform, until Mario finally reached the end of the room. He sighed in relief, and turned to watch as Luigi made the last few jumps.

Luigi jumped onto a disappearing platform, and jumped to the next one just before it disappeared. Now only one jump away from the end, Luigi mustered his strength and jumped towards the end, when a Podoboo jumped up right in the way and caused Luigi to slam into it! "LUIGI!" Mario yelled as his younger brother began to fall into the lava. Mario quickly jumped down a few feet above where the lava was, grabbed his brother by the legs, and threw Luigi up to the final platform, where Luigi grabbed the edge of the platform and Mario held onto Luigi's legs, dangling mere inches from the surface of the lava. Luigi managed to climb up onto the platform, grabbed his brother's hand, and pulled Mario up to the platform with him. "Phew," both exclaimed in relief.

"Thanks, bro," Mario said. "If it weren't for you, I'd be roasted Podoboo dinner right now."

"You're the one who should be thanked," Luigi said. "If you hadn't jumped down to save me, then I'd be the one who would be Podoboo dinner!"

Mario and Luigi managed to jump across to the end without another Podoboo popping up, and they went through the door to the next room. This room was a large, open area decorated with red carpet and numerous Bowser statues. At the end of the room was a large, red double door with an insignia of Bowser's face on it; undoubtedly the door to the throne room. There were also two smaller doors to the left and right. Mario and Luigi made their way to the door and tried to open it, but found that it was locked.

"Dang," Luigi said. "What are we going to do now?"

Mario went to the door to his left, but found that it was locked. He then went to the last remaining door and cracked it open, seeing that it was unlocked. "Let's try heading through this one and see if we can find the key here," Mario said. He and his brother went through the door and emerged in a large library, filled with rows of bookshelves packed with books. There were multiple paintings on the walls, including five very prominent paintings of Bowser at the back of the room.

"Mamamia," Luigi said. "It'll take forever to search this place!"

Just then, Mario heard footsteps coming into the library. "Hide!" Mario whispered. Mario and Luigi quickly dashed behind a bookcase. Luigi peered out from behind the bookcase and saw Kammy Koopa, a Hammer Bro, and a Koopatrol walk into the library.

"With those Mario Bros here," Kammy said, "we need to take the key to the throne room to a more secure spot. You two minions, guard the door. I'll go get the key."

"You hear that, Mario?" Luigi whispered. "We can just wait for Kammy to get the key, and then do a sneak attack on her."

"Who said that?!" Kammy shouted. After a few seconds of silence, she said, "Not going to reveal yourselves? Fine! I'll just have to do that for you!" She moved her wand a bit, and suddenly, all the bookshelves in the library levitated up a few meters, clearly revealing Mario and Luigi!

"…Darn," Luigi said. "There goes our sneak attack."

"Aha!" Kammy said. "Mario and Luigi! Trying to hide while I retrieve the key for you! Well, that's not going to work! Guards, get them!"

The Koopatrol took out his spear and charged at Mario, while the Hammer Bro started throwing hammers at Luigi. Mario took out his hammer and parried an attack from the Koopatrol's spear, then used the hammerhead to knock the spear out of the enemy's hands. Then, it only took one swift hammer blow to knock out the Koopatrol. Luigi jumped over three hammers from the Hammer Bro, used his own hammer to deflect three more, then grabbed two and threw them back at the Hammer Bro. The Hammer Bro, clearly not anticipating this, let the hammers conk him on the head, making him dizzy and an easy target for Luigi's final hammer swing which knocked him out.

"…Wow," Kammy said. "Those guys went down pretty quickly. Still, you have me to deal with!" Kammy threw a magical spell at Mario. Mario dodged it, but Kammy teleported behind him, created a block, and threw it at Mario, knocking Mario into the wall. Luigi quickly hammered the block so that Mario could get up, then leapt at Kammy and threw his hammer towards her. Kammy moved her wand upwards a bit, and a bubble-like shield formed around her, deflecting the hammer. Kammy then used her magic to levitate the hammer up and throw it at Luigi, smashing the green-capped hero in the face with his own weapon and causing Luigi to become dazed.

"Time for some flower power!" Mario said as he took out a Fire Flower. He activated its powers, granting him greater power and control over fire. His overalls turned a red color while his shirt and cap changed color to white. Mario shot a flurry of fireballs at Kammy, but Kammy teleported away. Mario noticed that a small purple burst of energy exploded from where Kammy was teleporting to about two seconds before she actually appeared there. Mario launched more fireballs at Kammy, but Kammy put up her shield, causing the fireballs to be deflected away, and then teleported again. Mario charged up a small fireball, then shot it at the location where the purple energy was, hitting Kammy just as she materialized.

"Ahhh!" Kammy screamed. "Hot! Hot! My robes! They're burning!"

"Now's our chance!" Mario said. He leapt towards Kammy and shot half a dozen fireballs at her in quick succession at point-blank range. Luigi then jumped towards her and smashed her from above with his hammer. He then swung his hammer to the side, and smacked it into Kammy, knocking her several meters away. Mario charged up a fireball for a few seconds, and then flung it at Kammy, causing a small explosion. When the dust cleared, Kammy laid defeated on the ground.

"Yes! Alright!" Mario and Luigi cheered in victory.

"Agh…" Kammy muttered. "King Bowser…I…failed…"

Mario and Luigi walked up to Kammy. Mario demanded, "Tell us where the key to the throne room is!"

"Fine…" Kammy weakly said. "It's behind one of the paintings to the back of the room…but four of the paintings are solid. Only one of them is a warp to the key. If you try to go through the wrong painting, it triggers a security system."

Mario and Luigi ran to the end of the room and looked upon the five Bowser paintings. "So, how do we tell which one is the warp?" Luigi asked.

"I've got an idea," Mario said. He shot a small fireball at one of the paintings. The fireball harmlessly deflected off it. He shot another fireball at another painting. This time, the fireball passed through. "That's the one!" Mario said. He jumped through the painting and was warped to a small, black room with a treasure chest in it. He opened it up and got a large key with a Bowser insignia on it! He jumped back into the library and held up the key to show to Luigi. "I got it!"

"Alright!" Luigi said. "Let's head back to the throne room door!"

A minute later, Mario and Luigi were standing outside of the door to the throne room. "Ready?" Mario asked.

"Ready," Luigi responded.

Mario inserted the key into the door and turned it, unlocking the door. He opened the door, and then he and Luigi slowly walked in.


	4. Brawl with Bowser

Mario and Luigi walked into the throne room. Multiple chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and several Bowser statues were placed at equal intervals between the entrance and back of the room. A red carpet draped the stone floor and led straight towards the throne, which Bowser was seated in!

"What?!" Bowser exclaimed. "Mario! And…that other green guy! What are you doing here?!"

"We need something from you!" Mario said.

"Well, the princess is in the dungeon, and if you want her back…wait a minute, I haven't even kidnapped the princess!" Bowser exclaimed in confusion.

"We need that Crystal Star you have!" Luigi said.

"Wait…Crystal Star?" Bowser asked. "This?" Bowser pulled the Diamond Star out of his shell!

"Exactly!" Mario said.

"You can't have it!" Bowser said. "This thing just suddenly flies into my castle and hits me in the head! As I pick it up, this blinding light shoots out from it, and suddenly I feel completely energized! And now that I realize it's a Crystal Star, no way I'm giving it up to you after all the trouble I went through to try and nab one in Rogueport! After I defeat you, I'll head out and find the rest of them!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Mario said. "Let's-a go!"

Mario and Luigi took out their hammers and jumped at Bowser. Bowser roared and jumped at Mario and Luigi. The three collided in midair and started dueling, Mario and Luigi smashing at Bowser with their hammers and Bowser clawing and punching at the Mario Bros. Eventually, Bowser pulled back his arm and slammed Luigi in the face, sending Luigi flying backwards. Mario tried to hammer Bowser's arm, but Bowser pulled back and uppercut Mario with his other arm. Luigi got up and threw his hammer at Bowser, but Bowser caught it by the handle and threw it back at Luigi. Luigi freaked out for a second before diving to the left, just barely avoiding getting hit. Mario ran at Bowser and delivered an uppercut to the Koopa King's jaw, knocking Bowser back onto his shell. Mario and Luigi then jumped up into the air together and slammed down onto Bowser's stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

Bowser roared in pain and anger as he got up and jumped backwards. Bowser began shooting multiple fireballs at Mario and Luigi. The Mario Bros ran up the hallway, dodging and jumping over the fireballs as they went. Mario reached Bowser, jumped up in the air, and prepared to do a meteor smash, but Bowser sidestepped the attack, causing Mario to slam into the floor. Bowser then grabbed Mario and threw him into Luigi, causing both brothers to be thrown into the back of the room.

"Gwahahaha!" Bowser laughed. Mario and Luigi groaned as they got up. Mario took out his hammer, looked at Luigi, and nodded. Luigi nodded back and moved right in front of Mario. Mario then smashed his hammer down onto Luigi, causing Luigi to burrow into the floor. Mario then jumped towards Bowser while Luigi moved underground. Bowser prepared to counterattack, but as soon as Mario got in range, Luigi popped up from above, propelling Mario upwards! Mario then swung his hammer around multiple times in succession, smashing Bowser across the face each time! "Augh!" Bowser said as he stumbled backwards. Taking advantage of their enemy's weakened state, Mario and Luigi performed another attack. Mario handed Luigi his hammer, and Luigi smashed the hammer into Mario, shrinking Mario to half of his normal size. Luigi then swung the hammer into Mario like a golf club, shooting Mario towards Bowser. Mario smashed into Bowser's head with extreme force, causing the Koopa King to roar out in pain and fall forward onto the floor in defeat.

"Alright!" Mario and Luigi cheered for themselves in victory.

"No…" Bowser mumbled. "I didn't just get beaten by Mario…again…"

"You sure did!" Mario said. "Now, cough up that Crystal Star!"

"I don't think so," Bowser said. "Koopalings, catch!" Bowser took the Diamond Star out of his shell and threw it back towards the throne. Just then, the Koopalings magically teleported to that area, and Ludwig caught the star!

"Oh no!" Mario and Luigi exclaimed.

"Haha!" Ludwig laughed. "Sorry, Mario! Looks like we've got the Diamond Star!"

"Yep!" Lemmy continued. "And while you can beat us one on one, there's no way you can beat all seven of us at once!"

"Not that you shouldn't try!" Roy said, cracking his knuckles. "I've been itching for a fight recently!"

Suddenly, a voice said, "Allow me to accept that challenge on their behalf." The Diamond Star was suddenly teleported away and replaced with a Bob-omb! The Bob-omb promptly detonated, sending Bowser and the Koopalings flying away! In their place, a tall shadowy figure materialized.

"Who are you?" Mario asked.

"I'd think you would know," the shadowy figure said. "After all, we've met before."

Mario thought for a moment, then said, "You're one of the guys who attacked our house!"

"Precisely. The name's Shadow Luigi, and I'll be taking this Crystal Star."

"S-shadow Luigi?" Luigi repeated.

"Yep," Shadow Luigi said. "I'm a dark version of you from a dimension parallel to this one. We've come to take over this world and convert all of its inhabitants into shadows like us."

"Wait, we?" Mario repeated. "There's more of you?"

"A lot more," Shadow Luigi said. "There's an army of us. You don't stand a chance."

"Then what do you need the Crystal Stars for?" Mario asked.

"That's better kept a secret," Shadow Luigi said. "Now, unless you surrender, it's time for you to be destroyed."

"You wish!" Mario said as he and Luigi got into fighting positions.

"If it's a fight you're looking for, then it's a fight you'll get," Shadow Luigi said. "I'll let you attack first." Mario leapt at Shadow Luigi and smashed the hammer down onto his opponent, only to find that the hammer had hit nothing but thin air. Mario looked behind him and saw Shadow Luigi standing there. Mario hopped towards him and spun around with his hammer outstretched, doing a horizontal attack, but Shadow Luigi teleported behind Mario and smashed his fist into him, sending Mario flying away. Shadow Luigi then teleported to where Mario was, grabbed Mario and threw him into a wall. Mario slumped to the ground, but quickly got back up, only to see Shadow Luigi standing right there. Shadow Luigi grabbed Mario and threw him towards the middle of the room, but while Mario was still flying, Shadow Luigi teleported just in front of him and kicked Mario upwards. Before Mario could hit the roof, though, Shadow Luigi teleported above Mario and smashed his feet down into him, sending Mario flying downwards. A small explosion occurred as Mario smashed into the floor, leaving a small crater.

"Mamamia…" Mario groaned as he fell unconscious.

"Mario!" Luigi screamed. He looked at Shadow Luigi and took on a fighting position, determined to defeat the person who had harmed Mario. Before Luigi could do anything, though, Shadow Luigi teleported in front of him and punched him backwards! As Luigi flew backwards, Shadow Luigi continuously teleported to Luigi and punched or kicked him, sending the hero flying ever further until he smashed into a wall, sending cracks through it. Before Luigi could even fall to the ground, Shadow Luigi grabbed him by the shirt and slammed his fist into Luigi's face, before slamming him down onto the ground, jumping into the air, and smashing his feet down onto Luigi's back, knocking Luigi out.

"Heh," Shadow Luigi chuckled. "Not even a challenge." He took out the Diamond Star and said, "Now, time to get this back to the boss…"

Suddenly, a red blur shot by, grabbing the Diamond Star! "What?!" Shadow Luigi shouted. He looked to where the red blur was, and saw Mario standing there, Diamond Star in hand! "How?! I knocked you unconscious!"

"Yeah, you did," Mario said. "Good thing I had a Life Shroom on me!"

"Grr…it doesn't matter," Shadow Luigi said. "I'll just beat you unconscious again!" Shadow Luigi teleported behind Mario, but Mario anticipated this and swung his hammer behind him, hitting Shadow Luigi across the face and knocking him to the ground. Mario then smashed his hammer onto Shadow Luigi's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. While Shadow Luigi was temporarily stunned, Mario jumped backwards and held up the Diamond Star. The Diamond Star expanded in size, and Mario jumped up onto it. The Diamond Star jumped up into the air; at the apex of its jump, Mario jumped up and ground pounded down onto it, shooting it down into the ground and causing an earthquake to shoot out. Mario repeated this multiple times, the earth tremors getting more powerful each time, until Mario did one final ground pound, knocking the Diamond Star into the ground and creating a massive tremor that flipped Shadow Luigi up into the air, smashed him into the roof, and caused him to fall back towards the ground.

"Agh…" Shadow Luigi muttered as he got up. "That…wasn't how I planned for this to go." He regained his composure and said, "It doesn't matter. There are still five Crystal Stars out there. Let's see who can get them first." Shadow Luigi teleported away.

Just then, Luigi woke up. "Mamamia…what happened?"

"Thanks to that Life Shroom we got earlier, I did it!" Mario said. "We got the Diamond Star!"

"Alright!" Luigi said. He and Mario high-fived each other. "Where next?"

Just then, the Diamond Star floated out of Mario's hand, and the Magical Map floated out of Mario's backpack. The Diamond Star shot a beam of energy into the Magical Map, then floated into Mario's backpack. Mario grabbed the map and saw that an X was engraved on it in a location far to the north.

"Where's that?" Luigi asked.

"The Shiver Region," Mario said. Mario put the Diamond Star in his backpack, and the two brothers left Bowser's Castle.


	5. Shivering Away

Mario and Luigi jumped out of a warp pipe and onto the grassy terrain of the Mushroom Kingdom. "Phew," Luigi said. "Good thing we found that warp pipe back here, otherwise we'd have a long walk ahead of us."

Mario looked over the horizon where the sun was slowly rising and said, "I can see Toad Town from here. Come on!" Mario and Luigi ran towards Toad Town, and after about six minutes, ran in through the front gates.

Mario and Luigi stopped in the town square for a moment to catch their breaths, then Luigi asked, "So how do we get to the Shiver Region?"

"There's a warp pipe underground," Mario answered. "Follow me."

Mario and Luigi went to the warp pipe which led to the Toad Town Tunnels. Once they were in the tunnels, they dropped down a small hole to the side and landed in a deeper portion of the sewers. There was a medium-sized body of water separating the area where Mario and Luigi were and another area to the east. Mario and Luigi got a running start, then leapt over the water, just barely managing to make it. They then navigated through the next room, and went into another room. There was a blue door on the far side, separated from the side Mario and Luigi were on by a chasm with floating blocks serving as a bridge. Mario and Luigi jumped from block to block, quickly making it to the other side. They opened the door and entered the small room, which housed a warp pipe. They entered the warp pipe and emerged in a cold, partially frozen over area of the sewers that housed another warp pipe leading aboveground. They entered this warp pipe and emerged in the frozen wonderland of Shiver City.

"Brrr…" Luigi shivered.

Mario took out the Magical Map and looked to where the location of the next Crystal Star was. "It looks like we have to head to around where Crystal Palace is."

Mario and Luigi left the city by the eastern exit, heading towards Shiver Mountain. Meanwhile, Shadow Luigi stood in the dark, shadow-bathed room where he and Shadow Peach had previously reported that they had scattered the Crystal Stars. A door on the balcony overhead opened, and the same shadowy figure that they reported to last time came out. "So, Shadow Luigi, did you get the Diamond Star as you promised you would?" the shadowy figure asked.

"Well…" Shadow Luigi said, "…not exactly. You see, I had defeated the Mario Bros and held the Diamond Star in my hands. Then, Mario used a Life Shroom that I didn't know he had to recover from unconsciousness and take the Diamond Star from me."

The shadowy figure sighed in frustration. "So, they already have one of the Crystal Stars?"

Shadow Luigi gulped. "Yes."

"Well, you've proven your incompetence," the shadowy figure said. "Shadow Peach!"

Just then, Shadow Peach teleported into the room. "Yes, master?"

"Shadow Peach, use Shadow Luigi's Crystal Star radar to find the next Crystal Star. Get it before the Mario Bros do."

"My pleasure," Shadow Peach said. She then teleported away.

* * *

Mario and Luigi walked for hours through the frozen wastelands of Shiver Mountain, battling the native White Clubbas and Frost Piranhas along the way. Eventually, they reached a path which led toward the staircases leading up to Crystal Palace. Mario took out the Magical Map and said, "We're getting close."

As they walked along the path, Luigi suddenly noticed three stone shrines, each holding items. "Hey, look!" Luigi said, pointing to the first shrine, where a Shooting Star was. He grabbed the Shooting Star off the shrine, but as soon as he did so, a wall of ice came down from the roof above, blocking their progress!

"You have to either put the Shooting Star back or put another item in its place," Mario said.

"Hmm…" Luigi said, looking through their backpack of items. "Well, I guess I'll put one of the Refreshing Herbs." He put a Refreshing Herb on the stone shrine, and the ice wall moved back up, clearing the way. "There's a Snowman Doll here," Luigi said, gesturing to the second shrine. "Should we take it?"

"I don't know," Mario said. "We would have to replace it with either another Refreshing Herb, or a Fire Flower or Super Shroom."

"Ehh…" Luigi said, thinking. "…alright, let's not take it. But how about this Thunder Rage?"

"That could be useful," Mario said. "But what are you willing to give up in exchange for it?"

"Uh…" Luigi thought. "Let's exchange a Fire Flower for it. We'll still have two Fire Flowers left over, one for each of us." Mario nodded as Luigi took the Thunder Rage off the first pedestal, replacing it with a Fire Flower before the ice wall could come down.

Mario and Luigi continued on to the crystal staircase that led up to the Crystal Palace. They jumped up the first flight of stairs and walked over to the side, which was a dead end. Mario took out the Magical Map and said, "Hmm…according to the map, we're right on top of the Crystal Star."

"Maybe it's further up the stairs," Luigi suggested. They climbed up the next two flights of stairs and emerged on the final stretch before the entrance to Crystal Palace, but still, no Crystal Star was to be spotted.

"Hmm…" Mario thought for a few moments, then snapped his fingers. "I think I know where it is! Follow me!" Mario and Luigi went back down the flights of stairs until they reached the bottom of the crystal stairs. In the wall behind them, there was a chunk of ice embedded into it, and an indentation where a star-shaped stone sat. "This is the Star Stone," Mario said. "When I last came here, I used it to raise the crystal stairs leading up to the palace." Mario took the Star Stone out of the wall, and the crystal stairs all fell into the ground, revealing a cavern to the east. Mario and Luigi entered the cavern.

The small cavern was entirely frozen over and seemed to only be one room. Mario walked to the end of the room, put his hand through the wall, and then stepped through the wall as if nothing was there! Luigi gasped for a short second, then quickly followed Mario through the wall into a secret room. Inside the secret room was a large ice crystal, containing the Ruby Star!

"Alright!" Mario said. "We found the second Crystal Star!"

Just then, a spirit materialized above the ice crystal. Mario immediately recognized the spirit to be a Shaman, one of Merlon's ancestors: Madam Merlar. "Ah, Mario and Luigi," Madam Merlar spoke. "I'm glad you made it here."

"Ack! A ghost!" Luigi exclaimed.

Madam Merlar chuckled. "Do not fear, Luigi. I have no intention of hurting you, unlike the other ghosts you've battled in the past."

"Madam Merlar," Mario began, "some sort of shadowy beings attacked us and scattered the Crystal Stars."

"So I've heard," Madam Merlar said. "Yet, while I am sorry to disappoint you, I am not the holder of the Ruby Star."

"What?" Mario asked, confused. "But it's right there, isn't it?"

"That's a hologram of the Ruby Star that I created, so that the Magical Map would think it was the real Crystal Star and lead you here," Merlar said. "You see, I have information of grave importance to tell you. Merlon informed me of the attack these shadowy beings perpetrated on you, so I used my powers as a spirit to research these beings. I believe I have uncovered a plot that would prove to be the undoing of the entire world if it comes to pass."

"What is it?" Mario asked.

"As you know, the Crystal Stars have no allegiance. That means they can be used for good or for bad. If these Shadows, as I call them, were to come into possession of all seven Crystal Stars, they would use their power to flood the world with shadows. The sun would be blotted out by shadow, and everyone and everything on the planet would be corrupted into dark versions of themselves. The world would fall into chaos."

"Hmm…do you think the Shadow Queen could be behind this?" Mario asked. "Maybe she's returned and wants to take her revenge."

"No, I doubt it," Merlar said. "When you defeated the Shadow Queen at the Palace of Shadows, you permanently banished her from this realm. She can never return. This must be the work of a new enemy."

Luigi said, "When we got the Diamond Star, we had to battle against someone called Shadow Luigi. Could there be shadowy versions of everyone else too?"

"Yes, I believe there is," Merlar said. "Just as there is a Shadow Luigi, there is surely a Shadow Peach, Shadow Mario, Shadow Bowser, and others."

"When we battled Shadow Luigi," Mario said, "we would've easily lost if I didn't have a Life Shroom on hand. How are we supposed to defeat the other Shadows, especially if they start coming at us in groups?"

"Fear not," Merlar said. "Even when you're not using them, the Crystal Stars are passively upgrading your power. Even now, with just one Crystal Star, you are much more powerful than you were when you entered Bowser's Castle. Your increasing power should be sufficient to deal with anything the Shadows throw at you."

"That's good to hear," Luigi said.

"So, about the Ruby Star…" Mario said, "…if the thing right in front of us is just a hologram, then where's the real Ruby Star?"

"It is being held by a member of the Merlon family," Merlar said, "in a world between dimensions: the land of Flipside."

"Flipside?" Mario and Luigi asked. Neither of the Mario Bros had been to this land before. Mario had just returned from his adventure in Rogueport, and Luigi had only just come back from his journeys in the Waffle Kingdom, so they hadn't yet gotten the opportunities to explore any new lands in new adventures.

"If it's…between dimensions," Mario asked, "how are we going to get there?"

"I can teleport you there," Merlar said. "Beware, though. I sense that an enemy is rapidly converging on the same location."

"It must be one of the Shadows," Mario said. "We have to get to the Ruby Star before they do!"

"Move forward a few steps and face the wall behind you." Mario and Luigi did as asked. Madam Merlar moved her hands in a motion, and two beams of light rapidly enveloped the Mario Bros. When the light dissipated, Mario and Luigi were gone. "Good luck."


	6. The Flipside of Things

Within the throne room of Bowser's Castle, Bowser was stomping the floor in rage and throwing a temper tantrum. "Agh! I can't believe this!" he pouted. "I had a Crystal Star and the Mario Bros didn't have any, but they still beat me! I hate them! I hate them I hate them I HATE THEM!"

"Please sire, calm down…" Kamek, the Guildmaster of the Magikoopa Guild and top advisor to Bowser, said. "Remember your blood pressure…"

"GRAH!" Bowser slammed his foot into the ground one last time, causing a piece of the roof to fall in next to him. He calmed down a bit and said with sadness in his voice, "Why do they always beat me? It's not fair."

Kamek opted not to answer that question and instead said, "My liege, Ludwig believes that he may have a way of tracking the Crystal Stars, so that we can go after the Mario Bros, take back the Diamond Star, and then hunt down the rest of the Crystal Stars."

"Really?" Bowser asked. "Well then, get him in here! And get the rest of the Koopalings too!"

Kamek cast a quick spell, notifying the Koopalings that their presence was requested. A few seconds later, the Koopalings came barging through the door.

"Hey King Dad!" Iggy said. "Why'd ya call us?"

"Yeah!" Lemmy said. "I was about to beat Iggy in Super Smash Bros!"

"I was about to finish an invention," Ludwig said.

"I was still putting my makeup on!" Wendy whined.

"I was drafting plans for my new speech!" Morton said.

"And I was just about to beat Morton up!" Roy said, punching Morton square in the face.

After a short silence, Larry said, "I wasn't doing anything..."

"Ludwig," Bowser said, "Kamek says you have a way of tracking the Crystal Stars."

"I do," Ludwig said. "You see, when you possessed the Diamond Star, it left residual lingering energy around the castle that I'm able to analyze and track." He took out a large, purple, rectangular tablet-like device. "I have already triangulated the locations of each Crystal Star and displayed them on this device."

"Give me that," Bowser said, taking the device from Ludwig. "Hmm…alright! Larry, you go for the Garnet Star. Morton and Wendy, track down Mario and take his Crystal Stars. Lemmy and Iggy, go for the Sapphire Star. Roy, you go for the Emerald Star. Ludwig, Kamek, and I will go for the Crystal Star. Any questions?"

"No," all the Koopalings said.

"Then let's get going!" Bowser said. Kamek teleported Bowser's Koopa Clown Car to the throne room. Bowser jumped in it, and he flew out of the throne room, quickly followed by Kamek on his broomstick and the rest of the Koopalings dashing behind them.

* * *

Flashes of light shot out from two locations and then dissipated, leaving Mario and Luigi in their wake. "Woah…" Mario and Luigi mumbled as they struggled to regain their bearings. They seemed to be on the top of a tall, wide tower.

"Ah!" a voice came. "The Mario Bros. I've been expecting you. Welcome to Flipside."

Mario and Luigi shook their heads to quickly regain their bearings and looked at the person who was speaking. Mario squinted his eyes to get rid of some of the excess light that was still plaguing his vision and asked, "Merlon?"

"Yes, I am Merlon," the person said. "However, not the Merlon you know. You see, individuals of our species, Shamans, are named after their occupations. Since the Merlon of Toad Town and I have the same occupation, we have the same name."

"How do you distinguish each other?" Luigi asked.

"I would call myself Merlon of Flipside. The Merlon from Toad Town would call himself Merlon of Toad Town. But that's not important right now. You've come for the Ruby Star, have you not?"

"We have!" Mario said.

"Aha," Merlon said. "You see, yesterday, a burst of light appeared in the sky, and a red star-shaped stone fell. I found it while I was out on my morning stroll and brought it back to my house. Then, I was contacted by one of my ancient ancestors, Madam Merlar, whom you must've met. She told me about the Crystal Stars and that she'd be sending you my way so that I could give you the star. Now, without any further delay, let us go retrieve the star."

Merlon moved to the side of the tower and pointed to a black block with a red arrow on it. "Hit this block," he said. Mario jumped up and hit it. It dissipated, and the outline of an elevator began drawing itself. When the outline finished drawing itself, the entire elevator formed, and Merlon stepped in, followed by the Mario Bros. The elevator went down and to the east, to the base of the tower, where the door opened once more and the three stepped outside. Merlon motioned to the west and said, "My house is right here." The blue house had three stars over the door; Mario, Luigi, and Merlon entered it and emerged in the main room of the house. There was a bookshelf loaded with all sorts of books and potions, and there was a small stand with a gray book that had a star on its cover.

"What's this book?" Luigi asked, seemingly drawn to the book.

"That's not important right now," Merlon said. "What is important is that you get the Ruby Star."

Merlon reached behind the bookshelf and pulled out a red, star-shaped stone: the Ruby Star!

"Alright!" Mario and Luigi said. Mario reached out his hand to take the Ruby Star…when suddenly, it disappeared from Merlon's grip!

"What?!" Mario, Luigi, and Merlon exclaimed. Suddenly, a dark, shadowy figure materialized next to the door with the Ruby Star in hand.

Mario squinted to get a better look at the shadowy figure, and asked, "Peach?"

"That's Shadow Peach!" the shadowy figure said. "I'll be taking this Crystal Star, if you don't mind."

"We do mind!" Mario said.

"Well, that's too bad," Shadow Peach said. She thought for a moment, and said, "You have a Crystal Star. I have a Crystal Star. How about we fight? Winner takes the losers' Crystal Star!"

"That's fine by us!" Mario said, he and Luigi taking up fighting positions.

"Prepare to lose!" Shadow Peach said, also taking up a fighting stance.

"Uh, guys," Merlon said, "as exciting as this battle promises to be, would you mind taking it outside? I don't particularly fancy getting my house blown up by the fighting."

"Right," Mario and Luigi said. "Sorry." They and Shadow Peach exited the house, then took up fighting positions on opposite sides of the door.

"Ladies attack first," Mario said. Luigi looked at his brother uncertainly. Shadow Peach extended her arms towards the Mario Bros, and a flurry of shadow balls shot out towards them! Mario and Luigi jumped away from the orbs, which caused small explosions upon contact with the ground. Mario leapt at Shadow Peach with his hammer drawn and smashed it down onto the enemy's position. Shadow Peach leapt away, dodging the attack. Luigi ran up behind Shadow Peach and swung his hammer towards her. Shadow Peach curved her body forward to avoid the hammer swing, then turned around and slapped Luigi, the force of the slap sending Luigi falling to the ground.

Mario jumped onto Shadow Peach's head, smashing his boots into her and bouncing up into the air for another jump attack. Shadow Peach teleported a short distance away and fired a shadow ball at Mario. Mario launched a fireball at Shadow Peach, and the fireball and shadow ball collided, creating a large explosion and throwing tons of smoke and dust into the air. Mario leapt through the ball of smoke and swung his hammer at Shadow Peach. Shadow Peach teleported backwards a few feet, and Mario jumped forward, swinging his hammer at her again. Shadow Peach teleported backwards again and Mario jumped forward to attack her again, the pattern continuing for a few seconds before Shadow Peach teleported a larger distance back and launched a shadow ball at Mario. The shadow ball connected right with his face and knocked him backwards several meters.

Mario and Luigi got up at the same time, both worn out from battling. Mario took out a Super Shroom and ate it, restoring his health. The two brothers looked at each other and nodded. Mario then leapt at Shadow Peach and slammed his hammer towards her. Shadow Peach teleported behind Mario and tried to attack him, but Luigi shocked her with a Thunderhand attack, paralyzing her! Luigi then jumped backwards as Mario spun around and swung his hammer into Shadow Peach, sending her flying towards Luigi. Luigi slammed his hammer underhanded into Shadow Peach, knocking her into the air, where Mario had leapt up just above her and slammed his hammer down into her, sending her flying to the ground and creating a small crater!

"Grah…" Shadow Peach said as she got up. "You're tougher than Shadow Luigi made you out to be. But this fight ends now!" Shadow Peach launched a flurry of shadow orbs at Luigi. Luigi screamed in fear and ran away from the shadow orbs, narrowly dodging the explosions of each as they hit the ground and diving down to the floor to avoid the last shadow ball. Mario jumped up with his hammer drawn, prepared to slam it into Shadow Peach, but a pink tendril of energy snaked up from Shadow Peach's finger and wrapped itself around Mario's arm. Shadow Peach then threw the tendril of energy down, causing it to pull Mario over Shadow Peach and slam him into the ground! Luigi jumped at Shadow Peach with his hammer raised, but Shadow Peach shot another tendril of energy, which wrapped itself around Luigi's hammer. Shadow Peach then used the tendril to wrest Luigi's hammer away from him and smash the hammer into him repeatedly. Shadow Peach then raised the hammer up into the air and threw it downwards, causing it to smash into Luigi at a high speed and knock him out.

"Luigi!" Mario shouted. His face turned to one of determination as he stared down the dark counterpart of Princess Peach. He ran at Shadow Peach and swung his hammer at her, but a dark tendril of energy countered the attack and sent Mario flying backwards. Mario quickly got up and shot several fireballs at Shadow Peach, but each one was quickly swatted away by the dark tendrils. Mario then took out the Diamond Star and used its Earth Tremor ability. The Diamond Star expanded in size, and Mario jumped up onto it. The Diamond Star began jumping up and down with Mario ground pounding it at the height of its jump, sending increasingly powerful waves of energy through the ground. However, Shadow Peach teleported in front of each wave of energy as they come, avoiding them and getting closer to Mario. As the last wave of energy shot out, Shadow Peach teleported to within a few feet of Mario. She grabbed him with a shadowy tendril and pulled him towards her. She pummeled him a few times with her fist, then put him above her and volleyed him upwards. Shadow Peach jumped up after Mario and lunged at him, creating an explosion that blew Mario several meters away. As Mario fell to the ground, Shadow Peach plucked a shadowy turnip from the ground and chucked it at him. The turnip hit Mario dead-on and exploded, causing Mario to cry out in pain and fall onto his back, knocked out.

"Sweet!" Shadow Peach said in victory. She picked up the Diamond Star, which was lying near where Mario had used it for the Earth Tremor attack, and said, "Now that I have what I came for, there's no use for this place existing…I guess I'll just destroy it!" Shadow Peach raised her arms into the air, and the Crystal Stars levitated above her. Energy began pouring into the Diamond and Ruby Stars, and then burst out.

Multiple explosions began occurring on the boundaries of Flipside as the interdimensional region began contracting and collapsing on itself. Suddenly, a voice came from behind Shadow Peach, "Stop there."

"Who challenges me now?" Shadow Peach asked. She paused her destruction of Flipside to turn around, and saw Merlon standing there. "So, you, old Shaman. Do you want to end up like Mario and Luigi just did?"

"I do not fight often," Merlon said, "but I will not allow you to take these Crystal Stars. Nor will I allow you to destroy Flipside."

"Grah!" Shadow Peach growled. "Fine, then! If you want a game over, be my guest!" Shadow Peach fired a beam of shadow energy at Merlon. Merlon moved his hands forward, and a blue shield of energy appeared in front of him, absorbing the energy of the beam. Shadow Peach kept pouring more and more energy into the beam, unknowingly powering Merlon. Merlon's energy shield was absorbing the shadow energy, purifying it into light energy, and charging it. After a few more seconds, Shadow Peach stopped firing the beam of energy to take a breath. Merlon's energy shield then turned inside-out, and launched a massive blast of white energy at Shadow Peach! "NO!" Shadow Peach yelled as the energy overwhelmed her and completely charred her body. She let out a weak cough, then collapsed to the floor. "Ugh…"

Merlon moved his hands to cast another spell, reviving Mario and Luigi. "Agh…" Luigi said as he got up. "My head's pounding…"

Mario squeezed his eyes closed for a few seconds to quickly regain full consciousness, then opened his eyes and noticed that Shadow Peach was knocked out. "Hey! Shadow Peach is down!" He looked to the side and saw Merlon standing there. "Did you do this, Merlon?"

"Indeed I did," Merlon said. "She underestimated me and inadvertently powered the attack that destroyed her."

"Alright!" Mario said. He ran up to Shadow Peach, grabbed the Diamond Star from where it was lying on the ground, and then took the Ruby Star from Shadow Peach. He held both Crystal Stars in the air and said, "Two Crystal Stars!"

"Yah!" Luigi cheered.

"Agh…" Shadow Peach grunted as she slowly got up. "Grah…I can't believe I lost too…this isn't good…" She looked at Mario and said, "It's time for the kiddy gloves to come off. You might've won this battle, but the war's just beginning."

"We'll take on anything you throw at us!" Mario said. Shadow Peach teleported away.

"Alright, two Crystal Stars," Luigi said. "How do we get back to Toad Town?"

"I can teleport you back," Merlon said. "However, I must warn you of something. Nothing of concern on this adventure, but you will eventually return here to Flipside. When you do, the prophecy dictates that it must be the first time you visit Flipside."

"What prophecy?" Mario asked.

"Because of this," Merlon continued, "I'll have to erase your memories of being here in Flipside. You'll find out everything eventually."

"Okay…" Mario and Luigi said uncertainly.

"Now, close your eyes…" Mario and Luigi did, and Merlon cast a spell. Bright bursts of light enveloped the Mario Bros. When the light dissipated, the Mario Bros were gone.

* * *

Shadow Peach was once again in the dark, shadow-cloaked chamber. The doors on the balcony above opened, and the same shadowy figure from before marched out. "Did you return successfully?" he asked.

"Um…well…you see…" Shadow Peach stammered. "I kinda…"

"So you failed."

"Um…yeah. Pretty much."

"It was a mistake to send you and Shadow Luigi out after you had already failed to get the Crystal Stars when you attacked Mario's house. It's time to bring out the big guns. Send the Shadow Wario Bros to get the next Crystal Star."

"Yes, master," Shadow Peach said as she teleported away.

Just then, a Shadow Magikoopa walked up to the shadowy figure. "Um, sir," it said, "it appears we have a security breach."

"Security breach?" the shadowy figure repeated. "Who would infiltrate this place? And how would they know how to get in?"

"Perhaps the Crystal Star we're keeping here allowed them to find the entrance."

"Perhaps. I will go check on this security breach myself. This should be interesting." The shadowy figure teleported away.

* * *

Mario and Luigi woke up in the center of Toad Town. "Ugh…what happened?" Luigi asked. "I can barely remember a thing…"

Mario got up and said, "The last thing I remember, we were talking to Madam Merlar. She told us about the Shadows' plot to fill the world with darkness. She told us that there are probably shadowy counterparts of all of us. Then…I can't remember a thing past that."

"So…how did we end up back here?" Luigi asked.

Mario grabbed the backpack, which was lying nearby, and put it on his back. He commented, "This feels a bit heavier than usual…" He took off the backpack, opened it, and pulled out…the Ruby Star!

"Woah!" Luigi said. "How did we get the Ruby Star?"

"I don't know," Mario said, "but it must have something to do with our memory loss. And if we have the Ruby Star, then…" Mario took out the Magical Map and showed it to Luigi. "…it must have engraved the location of the next Crystal Star onto our map!"

Luigi touched the part of the map where the outline of a star was engraved. "Where's this?"

Mario turned the map towards him. The star was engraved onto the image of a metropolitan city connected to train tracks. "Poshley Heights. We're going to have to head to Rogueport. Follow me!" Mario and Luigi made their way to the Toad Town docks to begin the next leg of their adventure.


	7. Naval Adventure

Mario and Luigi stood inside a large building at the Toad Town docks, where they were buying tickets for their trip to Rogueport. Earlier, they had also made a withdrawal from the Mushroom Bank in order to pay for the tickets. They got up to the front of the line, where an attendant was selling the tickets. "Destination?" the attendant asked.

"Rogueport!" Mario said.

The attendant looked on her clipboard and said, "You're in luck. One of the fastest ships in our fleet, the _Mushroom Cap_ , is about to depart for Rogueport. The tickets will be 500 blue coins each." Mario gave a large bag of coins to the attendant. The attendant looked inside the bag for a moment, put the bag on a nearby scale to weigh the coins, then nodded and pulled out two tickets, giving them to Mario and Luigi. "You're good to go. The boat is on the first dock."

Mario and Luigi nodded and left. At the first dock, they saw a sailor cry out, "Last call for boarding to Rogueport!" Mario and Luigi showed their tickets to him. He then gave them their cabin keys, which had "2A" engraved on them, and Mario and Luigi hopped onto the boat. It was a large luxury cruiser much like Princess Daisy's cruiser. They went to the area of the ship where the cabins were and scanned each cabin for the one that was theirs. Eventually, they made it to a cabin labeled "2A". Mario inserted the key and they entered the cabin. It was a medium sized cabin with two beds, a couch, a desk, a television, and a table.

"A five day cruise to Rogueport!" Luigi said. "This'll be a nice break from our adventure so far!"

Mario set down his backpack on the couch and said, "Come on! Let's head to the ship restaurant and grab something to eat!" Luigi nodded, and the two Mario Bros quickly dashed out of the cabin.

Over the next day, Mario and Luigi enjoyed themselves on the ship, eating at the ship's restaurants, playing at the onboard water park, watching films at the Yoshi Theater, and just generally relaxing. However, not far from them, trouble loomed. Just beyond the horizon, two massive battleships constructed of dark steel sailed towards them.

Onboard one of the dark battleships, a shadowy figure said to another, "Captain, we're just over ten klicks away from them."

"Good," the captain of the shadowy battleship said. "Fire a volley of Bob-ombs at them!"

The cannons on the dark battleships launched a massive volley of shadowy Bob-ombs at the _Mushroom Cap_. Onboard the _Mushroom Cap_ , Mario and Luigi were walking back to their cabin, when suddenly, they heard an explosion behind them! "What was that?!" Luigi asked. Mario barely got a chance to respond before another explosion wracked the deck just beneath them, sending both of them tumbling to their feet!

"We'd better go see the captain!" Mario said. Mario and Luigi ran to where the captain and the navigators were piloting the ship. Mario asked the captain, "What's going on?"

"Our radars are picking up two battleships coming up on us quickly!" the captain said. "They're firing Bob-ombs at us!"

"Do we have anything to fire back with?" Mario asked.

"This is a cruise ship, not a battleship!" the captain said. "We're trying to establish communication with them, but they won't respond!"

"Well, do we have any Cape Feathers or Super Leaves?" Mario asked. "Maybe Luigi and I can fly over there and board them."

"We might," the captain said. "Check the hold."

Mario and Luigi ran to the hold of the ship and began checking the supplies and cargo for any power-ups. Luigi grabbed an unlit Bob-omb that he saw laying around and pocketed it, since they would probably need explosives to destroy the enemy ships. Eventually, Luigi found a box labeled "Cape Feathers". "Here!" Luigi said as he tossed a Cape Feather to Mario.

"Alright!" Mario said as he jumped up and grabbed the Cape Feather. The Cape Feather granted Mario a yellow cape that allowed him to fly, and gave him a boost in speed. Luigi used his Cape Feather, gaining the same new powers as Mario. Just then, another Bob-omb exploded just above them, shaking the ship. Mario and Luigi nodded at each other, ran to the deck, and looked to the horizon, where two dark battleships were quickly coming up on them. Mario and Luigi got a running start, then jumped off the ship and began flying through the air.

One of the shadowy figures on a battleship said, "Captain! The Mario Bros are flying straight towards us!"

"Heh heh heh…" the Shadow Captain chuckled. "They're flying to their doom. Fire all Bullet Bills and Bob-ombs! Destroy them!"

As Mario and Luigi soared through the air, the battleships turned their armaments to them and began firing at them! "Watch out!" Mario shouted as Bullet Bills and Bob-ombs were fired towards them. Mario and Luigi flew around, under, and over the Bullet Bills while avoiding the Bob-ombs, getting closer and closer to the enemy battleships.

"Is the Banzai Cannon loaded yet?!" the Shadow Captain demanded.

A large group of Shadow Goombas and Koopas loaded a massive Banzai Bill into a cannon. One of them then turned around and gave the thumbs up, saying, "Banzai Cannon is loaded!"

"Fire!" the Shadow Captain ordered. A massive shadowy Banzai Bill shot out towards the Mario Bros!

"WOAH!" Mario and Luigi both exclaimed. They barrel rolled to opposite sides to dodge the Banzai Bill, but then it did a horizontal parabolic motion to reverse its course and fly at Luigi!

"Mamamia!" Luigi panicked as the Banzai Bill closed in on him. Luigi flew upwards, shifted to the side, suddenly did a dive bomb downwards, skimmed the surface of the water while accelerating quickly, flew up and backwards over the Banzai Bill, and flew away as fast as he could, the Banzai Bill staying hot on his tail throughout all of his maneuvers.

"Luigi!" Mario called out. "Bait it into one of the ships!" Luigi nodded and flew at full speed towards one of the shadowy battleships.

"Sir!" a Shadow Koopa onboard the ship said to the captain. "They're flying straight towards us!"

"Focus all weapons on them!" the Shadow Captain ordered. "Don't let them get close to the ship!"

A flurry of Bullet Bills and Bob-ombs shot out towards Luigi as the green-capped hero zoomed towards the enemy battleship, with the Banzai Bill quickly gaining on him. Luigi flew over a Bullet Bill, spun to the side to avoid a Bob-omb, placed his hands on the back of a Bullet Bill and pushed it forcefully backwards to propel him forward, smashed a Bob-omb back at the battleship that fired it, and landed on top of a Bullet Bill. Luigi placed his hands on the front of the Bullet Bill and commandeered it, flying it back towards the battleship. Just as it was about to impact, Luigi jumped off the Bullet Bill and soared over the width of the battleship. The Bullet Bill exploded into the hull of the battleship, severely damaging it. As Luigi flew over the battleship, multiple Super Scope emplacements on it turned and fired a hail of bullets at Luigi. Luigi flew fast enough to avoid the bullets, and as he reached the end of the ship, he moved down and hugged the hull. The Banzai Bill which was tracking him took the fastest route to him, which was directly through the battleship. A massive explosion shot out as the Banzai Bill smashed into the battleship, causing one of the decks to collapse onto another.

"Grah!" the Shadow Captain growled as the explosion reverberated throughout his ship. "Damage report, now!"

"Hull integrity is low!" a deckhand reported. "The lower decks are taking on water!"

"Captain!' another deckhand shouted. "The Marios are boarding us!"

The Shadow Captain rushed to a station and slammed his hand onto a button. "All hands on deck! Prepare to be boarded!"

Mario and Luigi converged on the battleship from opposite directions. Two groups of Shadow Koopas took up Super Scopes and began firing at the heroes. Mario and Luigi dodged the bullets and slammed into the groups of enemies, creating explosions and large clouds of smoke. Mario and Luigi then spun from enemy to enemy, sending each one flying away as they slammed into them and making their way to the center of the top deck.

Mario and Luigi met up and dashed forward, leaping to each enemy and quickly taking them out with a jump attack, hammer swing, or punch. They then entered the interior of the ship and zoomed down the halls, taking out every enemy they came across.

Meanwhile, the Shadow Captain asked, "Where are the Marios now?"

"Getting closer to us with every passing moment!" a crewman reported.

The Shadow Captain crossed his arms and said, "Well, our mission was to destroy the Mario Brothers. They've delivered themselves straight to us. Prepare to set the self-destruct."

Just then, the door was kicked down, and Mario and Luigi jumped into the room! The six crewmen in the room quickly took out Super Scopes and began firing at the Mario Bros. Mario and Luigi jumped at each crewman and attacked them. Mario jumped onto one, slammed his fist into another, and spun his cape at high speeds into another, while Luigi kicked one to the floor, uppercut another into the air, and slammed his hammer into the last one. As all six crewmen fell to the floor unconscious, Mario and Luigi jumped in front of the Shadow Captain and took up fighting poses.

"Gah…the Mario Brothers," the Shadow Captain said. "I'll bet you think you're hot stuff. Well, your winning streak ends now! Prepare to be destroyed!"

Mario and Luigi zoomed at the Shadow Captain. The Shadow Captain rolled to the side to avoid Luigi, then grabbed Mario and threw him into the wall. Luigi dashed forward, throwing his fists in a flurry of punches, but the Shadow Captain arched backwards a bit to dodge the attack, then grabbed Luigi and slammed him down on the floor before kicking him away.

Mario dashed at the Shadow Captain and threw a punch at him, but the Shadow Captain caught the punch with his hand. Mario uppercut the Shadow Captain's jaw, sending him stumbling backwards a bit, then did another quick punch to the Shadow Captain's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Mario then jumped up and kicked the Shadow Captain's head, knocking him over onto his back. Then, Mario jumped over the Shadow Captain and ground pounded his stomach.

"Grah!" the Shadow Captain exclaimed as he rolled over onto his stomach and pushed himself up. Before he could do anything else, though, Luigi smashed his hammer into the Shadow Captain's back, sending him flying into the wall! Luigi then jumped up and smashed his fist into the Shadow Captain's head, sending him crumpling to the floor. Luigi tried to do a jump attack, but the Shadow Captain rolled out of the way, jumped backwards, and caught his breath. "You landlubbers are proving to be more powerful than I expected. It's time to kick this up a notch!"

The Shadow Captain extended his hands out, and a large orb of water with shadow mixed into it formed. He then launched it at Mario. Mario dived out of the way as the orb exploded on the ground. The Shadow Captain began rapid firing multiple orbs at Mario, which Mario desperately ran to avoid. One orb then hit Mario, causing an explosion that knocked him into the wall!

The Shadow Captain turned his attention to Luigi, only to find that Luigi was already charging up a hammer attack. Luigi threw his hammer at the Shadow Captain with all his might. The Shadow Captain raised his arm to block the attack, but the accumulated force caused an audible crack in his bones. Luigi then dashed at the Shadow Captain, smashed his fist into the Shadow Captain's stomach, uppercut his jaw, spun his cape into the Shadow Captain at high speeds, and kicked him into the wall. Mario then leapt up and smashed his hammer into the Shadow Captain. The Shadow Captain couldn't react in time, and was knocked unconscious by the massive blow.

"Alright!" Mario and Luigi cheered in victory. Mario said, "Now, let's take on that other ship!"

Mario and Luigi rushed to the control consoles and tried to figure out how to operate the weapons. Eventually, Luigi found a button that allowed him to control a Bullet Bill cannon. "I've got a cannon!"

"Fire on the other ship!" Mario said. Luigi pressed a button, and a Bullet Bill shot out of a cannon, zooming towards the other battleship and hitting it dead on!

The explosion rocked the other battleship as the Shadow Captain of that ship demanded, "What's going on?!"

"We were just fired upon by the other ship!" a Shadow Goomba said.

"Grah…the Mario Brothers must've taken it over," the Shadow Captain said. "Fire all batteries! Destroy that ship!"

A hail of Bullet Bills and Bob-ombs rained on Mario and Luigi's battleship. Explosions wracked the ship as Luigi struggled to keep firing and Mario attempted to take control of a weapon. Eventually, Mario found a way to take control of a point-defense Super Scope. He fired the Super Scope at the incoming Bullet Bills and Bob-ombs, detonating them before they could reach the ship. However, the enemy also had this capability, and the Bullet Bills that Luigi was firing were also being destroyed by the enemy's weapons before they could reach their target.

Mario pulled up the schematics for the ships and sent them over to Luigi's console, saying, "Aim for the Super Scope emplacements!" Luigi nodded and began firing Bullet Bills at the enemy Super Scopes. It was a futile effort, though, as the Super Scopes destroyed the Bullet Bills before they could reach them.

Then, Luigi found a mode to take direct control of a Bullet Bill and guide it to its destination. Luigi activated this mode, and the screen on the console showed a first-person view from the perspective of the Bullet Bill. Luigi used a joystick on the side of the console to move the Bullet Bill towards the enemy Super Scope emplacements. Bullets flew at the Bullet Bill, but Luigi's piloting skills enabled him to dodge all the bullets, and the Bullet Bill exploded onto the deck of the enemy ship, taking out two Super Scope emplacements and creating a blind spot.

Luigi then concentrated all his firepower around that blind spot while Mario destroyed incoming Bullet Bills and Bob-ombs before they could reach the ship, dealing severe damage to the enemy battleship while avoiding damage to their own ship. On the other ship, an explosion rattled the deck as the Shadow Captain demanded, "Damage report!"

"They created a blind spot in our defenses!" a Shadow Goomba reported. "It's only a matter of time before this entire ship goes down!"

"Grah…" the Shadow Captain grumbled. "…Abandon ship! This battle is over!" The Shadow Captain teleported away as dozens of deckhands scrambled to escape the ship.

One final Bullet Bill from Luigi created an ear-deafening explosion that split the enemy battleship in two, sinking it. "Yeah! Alright!" Mario and Luigi cheered.

"Now, let's get off this ship and back to the _Mushroom Cap_!"

"Wait!" Luigi said, taking out a Bob-omb. "I got this from the cargo hold. What do you say we send this ship to the bottom of the sea too?"

"That sounds like a great idea!" Mario said. Mario and Luigi ran down to the engine room and positioned themselves as close to the engine as they could. "Bob-omb ready?" Mario asked. Luigi nodded. "Set it!" Luigi winded up the Bob-omb and set it on the floor. The fuse lit, and it began walking towards the engine. "Let's get out of here!"

Mario and Luigi ran up to the top deck, got a running start, and flew up into the air, flying towards the _Mushroom Cap_. Behind them, an explosion went off as the Bob-omb detonated, igniting the fuel in the battleship's engine and creating a chain reaction. The entire battleship exploded and sunk deep underneath the waves.

Mario and Luigi were met with thunderous applause as they landed on the deck of the _Mushroom Cap_. The captain of the ship was there to meet them and shook their hands, saying, "Well done, Mario Bros. Thank you for saving us."

"It was nothing," Mario said. "Although, I could go for a celebratory dinner!"

Luigi and the captain laughed as they went to one of the ship's restaurants. Several days later, the _Mushroom Cap_ docked at Rogueport, and Mario and Luigi dashed off the ship and stood on the docks, gazing at the town before them.

"Rogueport…" Mario said. "I kinda missed this place."

"Me too," Luigi said. "I never really got a chance to explore it between my adventures in the Waffle Kingdom."

"Let's get going," Mario said. "I know someone who can give us tickets for the train to Poshley Heights."


	8. Conversion

Bowser, Kamek, and Ludwig stood at the top of Star Hill. "Are you sure this is where the Crystal Star is?" Bowser asked.

Ludwig looked down at his Crystal Star radar and said, "Yes. This is where the Crystal Star is. I'm positive."

"Well, it's obviously not here!" Bowser said. "We've searched this entire place top to bottom!"

Kamek put his finger to his forehead and began concentrating. "I can feel…some sort of powerful magic emanating from around here," he said. "Not Star magic. Darker magic…" Kamek walked a few paces down the hill and said, "There's a doorway here."

"I don't see any doorway," Bowser said.

"Not a physical doorway," Kamek said. He waved his wand and pointed it in front of him. A beam of magic shot out from it and seemed to be absorbed by some sort of invisible barrier directly in front of Kamek. After a few seconds, Kamek pulled his wand back, then thrust it forward again, firing a more powerful beam of energy. A few seconds later, a magical portal ripped itself open in front of Kamek.

"A hidden portal," Ludwig said. "Where does it lead?"

Kamek started concentrating again, and said with some straining in his voice, "There's an aura of dark magic surrounding it…very difficult to cut through. This portal doesn't lead anywhere on this planet. Some sort of…realm…a bridge between dimensions…"

"It could lead to Wario's underwear drawer for all I care," Bowser said. "Just tell me if the Crystal Star is there or not."

Kamek stopped focusing and said, "Yes, I can definitely detect Crystal Star energy coming from the portal."

"Good!" Bowser said. "It looks like we got here before Mario did. Let's not waste this opportunity to get a Crystal Star before he does!" Bowser stepped through the portal, quickly followed by Ludwig and Kamek.

The three emerged in a barren dirt-covered landscape bereft of any grass, flowers, or trees, with a towering black citadel in the distance. Bowser looked up; even though no sun was visible, the area was still moderately lit. He then looked to his sides; this entire place seemed to be a moderately-sized rectangular shape, with nothing beyond the edges. Bowser went over to one of the edges and peered over it, seeing nothing but darkness below. "What happens if you fall down there?" he asked.

Kamek answered, "That seems to be one of the boundaries of this dimension, place, or wherever we are. I can only assume that anything that goes beyond the boundaries would cease to exist."

"Huh…" Bowser said. "Guess we better not fall down there, then."

Ludwig pointed his Crystal Star radar towards the castle in the distance and said, "I'm picking up huge amounts of Crystal Star energy from that castle. That must be where the Crystal Star is."

"Then let's get a move on!" Bowser said. As Bowser, Kamek, and Ludwig got closer to the castle, the area around them slowly began to dim until they could barely see through the shadows. Kamek used a spell to make his wand glow like a lightbulb, and they continued making their way towards the castle. When they reached the castle doors, it was so dark that even Kamek's wand was providing a minimal amount of light. In fact, the light that the wand was emitting seemed to be getting drawn towards the walls of the castle and absorbed into them, somehow making the castle walls even darker.

"My liege," Kamek said cautiously, "I really don't like this place. I believe we should turn back."

"What do you mean, you don't like this place?" Bowser asked.

"There's so much dark energy and magic flowing around here," Kamek said. "I can even feel it seeping into my wand. I would strongly recommend that we turn back."

"Bah!" Bowser said. "A little bit of dark magic never stopped me from doing anything!"

"King Dad, I agree with Kamek," Ludwig said. "I'm not particularly attuned to magic, and even I can feel the evil that this place is emitting. I really think that we should turn back."

"Now both of you want to give up?" Bowser asked. "Listen here. After spending so long trying to get a Crystal Star in Rogueport, there's finally one within my grasp, and if you two back out now, then I can guarantee you that you'll suffer far worse punishments than simply being thrown in the dungeon or tossed into the lava pits! Understand?!"

"Yes sir!" Ludwig and Kamek quickly said.

"Good," Bowser said. "Now, let's go get that Crystal Star!" Bowser opened the doors of the castle and stepped inside, followed by Ludwig and Kamek a short distance away.

The interior of the castle was entirely bathed in shadows, making it extremely difficult to see, even with Kamek's wand emitting light. Eventually, they made it to the end of the hallway, which was a dead end. "Where do we go from here?" Bowser asked.

Kamek looked up at the wall and noticed an empty sconce hanging on the wall. "Maybe this is a puzzle that has something to do with that torch holder up there," Kamek said.

Ludwig looked back where they came from and saw a torch hanging on one of the walls of the hallway. The flame on it was dark black and seemed to emit pure darkness. Ludwig grabbed the torch off of the wall and placed it onto the sconce. Just then, a cloud of shadows surrounded a portion of the wall, causing Bowser, Kamek, and Ludwig to jump back in surprise. The shadows moved several feet up the wall until disappearing, revealing a door.

The three Koopas entered the door and emerged in a small room. There was another torch on the wall, and five braziers were lined up horizontally in front of them. The Koopas searched the walls for any doors, but found nothing. "Another puzzle?" Bowser asked.

Kamek then noticed words etched into the wall next to him. He stooped down to read the words, which read, "Left, then right, then alternate." He looked up at the torch hanging on the wall, then the braziers, and said, "I think I know how to solve this puzzle." He took the torch off the wall and put it to the leftmost brazier, lighting it with a dark flame. He then moved to the other side and lit the rightmost brazier. Then, he lit the second-to-leftmost brazier, then the second-to-rightmost brazier, and finally lit the center brazier. On the wall behind the braziers, a cloud of shadows appeared and traveled several feet up the wall before disappearing, leaving behind another door.

Bowser, Kamek, and Ludwig went through the door and emerged in another long hallway. They made it about halfway down the hallway before encountering a Shadow Magikoopa. "Hey, you three!" the Shadow Magikoopa barked. Bowser, Ludwig, and Kamek quickly got into fighting positions, before the Shadow Magikoopa said, "Check on the status of group 5, will you?"

"Oh!" Bowser said as he got up from his fighting stance. "Uh, yeah. Sure. No problem."

The Shadow Magikoopa nodded and walked past them, before realizing something and turning around. "Hey! You're not Shadows!"

"Uh, no." Bowser said. "We're not."

"Intruders!" the Shadow Magikoopa yelled. "I'm gonna get you!" The Shadow Magikoopa pulled out its wand and launched a magic blast towards the three Koopas. Bowser, Ludwig, and Kamek all dived away from the blast, which caused a large explosion as it hit the ground. Bowser quickly got up and dashed at the Shadow Magikoopa, grabbing it by the neck and choking it. The Shadow Magikoopa gasped for air as it struggled to get out of Bowser's grasp, before Bowser lifted the Shadow Magikoopa off its feet and slammed it into the ground,. Bowser then lifted it up again and threw it across the room. Ludwig launched a fireball at the Shadow Magikoopa, which caused a small explosion as it charred the Shadow Magikoopa's robes, before Kamek unleashed a magical spell that he had been charging up. The orb of energy shot towards the Shadow Magikoopa and exploded on it, knocking the Shadow Magikoopa out.

"And THAT'S what happens to people who mess with the King of the Koopas!" Bowser said.

Kamek walked over to the Shadow Magikoopa and picked up its wand. The shadow wand had a dark purple handle, and the gemstone on top of it was a dark black color. "This wand is infused with shadow energy," Kamek said. "I've never felt such a concentration of dark magic before." Suddenly, a thin tendril of dark energy came out from the wand and went into Kamek's wand! Kamek dropped the wands in surprise and stepped back as more and more dark energy began pouring into Kamek's wand. The handle of Kamek's wand changed from its silver color to the same dark purple color as the other wand, and the red gemstone on top of it changed color to dark black. Kamek hesitantly picked up his wand and looked inside the gemstone on top of it. A small mist of shadowy energy swirled around within it.

"Is your wand good?" Bowser hesitantly asked.

"I don't know…" Kamek said. "It's been significantly infused with shadow magic." Kamek pointed the wand at the wall and fired a basic magic spell. The circle, triangle, and square which came out of the wand used to be colored blue, yellow, and red, but now they were all colored black. The magic spell smashed into the wall and created a massive explosion, knocking Bowser, Ludwig, and Kamek back and creating a large dust cloud.

"Wow…" Ludwig said as he got up. "It seems that the shadow magic also significantly increased the power of your wand."

"Indeed," Kamek said. "With the amount of energy that's in my wand now, I should be able to lock onto the Crystal Star's energies and teleport us directly to it."

Bowser's eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "Really?! Then what are you waiting for?"

"I've never used dark magic of this intensity," Kamek said. "I might not be able to control the flow of magic."

"Well, if it means getting the Crystal Star, then we should take that risk!" Bowser said. Bowser and Ludwig walked next to Kamek. Bowser said, "Teleport us!"

Kamek nodded and held his wand into the air. Dark vapors of energy began coalescing into the tip. Kamek's face visibly strained as he struggle to control the energy. Then, a puff of black smoke enveloped them, and they disappeared.

Bowser and Ludwig stumbled to the floor as they reappeared deep within the castle. Kamek let out a gasp of relief as the dark magic dissipated. They had emerged in a small circular room with two exits to the sides of them. In the center of a room was a pedestal with the Crystal Star on it!

"Yes!" Bowser said. He marched up to the pedestal and grabbed the Crystal Star, holding it in the air. "I finally got a Crystal Star!"

Just then, a dark blur smashed down onto Kamek and then slammed into Ludwig, knocking both Koopas out! The blur then settled in front of Bowser, revealing it to be the leader of the Shadows. "Well, well," the shadowy figure said, "I have to congratulate you. I never expected intruders to be able to penetrate this deep into the castle. However, your little adventure ends here." The shadowy figure snapped his fingers, and a massive army of shadowy beings poured into the room! "As you can see, you're heavily outnumbered," the leader of the Shadows said. "Surrender now, and we won't have to do this the hard way."

"Grrr…" Bowser growled. "If you want a piece of this, then come at me!"

The shadowy figure shook his head, then snapped his fingers. The massive army of Shadows collapsed onto Bowser. "NOOOOOO!" Bowser shouted, his screams drowned out by the army of Shadows attacking him…


	9. Assassination

Mario and Luigi were currently at the train station of Rogueport, with two train tickets in hand. They had procured the tickets from the boss of the Pianta Syndicate, Frankie, who was still indebted to Mario from Mario's previous adventure in Rogueport and was more than glad to help them out. As the train rolled in, a Toad shouted, "Boarding for Poshley Heights!"

Mario and Luigi showed their tickets to the Toad and were allowed to board the Excess Express. As the last of the passengers boarded the train, nobody noticed a being concealed in shadows sneak onto the train…

Mario and Luigi settled into cabin 5, the same cabin that Mario had on his previous adventure in Rogueport. "Ah, three days of excess!" Luigi said as he plopped down onto the bunk bed nearby.

"This was my favorite part of the Rogueport adventure," Mario said. "Three days on a luxurious train! Of course, Doopliss and the Shadow Sirens kind of spoiled it a bit. Anyway, I know exactly what I'm going to do first."

"Eat?" Luigi guessed.

"How'd you guess?" Mario asked in mock shock.

"What, you didn't have enough on your celebratory dinner back on the cruise ship?" Luigi jokingly asked.

"You know me!" Mario said. "I'm never full!"

"Heh," Luigi chuckled. "Well, I'll join you in a bit. I still feel a bit bloated from that feast."

Mario chuckled and left the room, headed to the dining car. He took a seat at one of the tables and began looking over the menu. A couple minutes later, one of the waitresses, a female Toad with a heart on her cap and purple twin tails, came up and said, "Hi there! Welcome to the Excess Diner! What can I get for you to drink?"

"I'll take a Kerokero Cola," Mario said.

"I'll get that for you right now!" the waitress said.

As Mario's drink was being prepared, a small figure crouched stealthed in the shadows. "Heheheh…" it chuckled. "This is turning out to be almost too easy." He reached into his shell and pulled out a small vial of purple liquid. This poison was developed by him personally, and when it was ingested, it would lay dormant in the victim's body until the victim fell asleep, at which point it would act, completely paralyzing the victim. After about five minutes, the victim would almost invariably be dead. As the chefs placed Mario's drink onto a counter, the cloaked figure quickly went up to it, popped open the vial, and poured its contents into the drink, before quickly slinking back into the shadows.

The waitress unsuspectingly brought the drink to Mario and laid it on the table, saying, "There you go! What can I get you for the main meal?"

The cloaked figure almost laughed as Mario took a huge gulp of his Kerokero Cola, clearly not noticing that it had been poisoned. "Ah," Mario let out in satisfaction as he put the drink down. "I'll have the Mushroom Full Course."

"Mushroom Full Course, coming right up!" the waitress said.

As Mario took another sip from his Kerokero Cola, the cloaked figure whispered, "What an idiot! Now it's only a matter of time before Mario's out of the picture, and I'll claim the Garnet Star!"

Luigi came out to the dining car shortly after and ordered a Super Soda to drink and Koopasta to eat. The cloaked figure tried to poison Luigi's Super Soda, but was unable to, as the waitress grabbed it almost immediately after it was put out. "Oh well," the cloaked figure said to itself. "It's not like Luigi will be a problem once Mario's gone."

Mario finished his meal almost instantly after it was brought out and immediately ordered a dessert of Choco Cake. Luigi finished his Koopasta as Mario was already halfway through his Choco Cake and ordered a Fruit Parfait for dessert. When the two brothers finished eating, it was nearly nighttime. They paid the bill and left for their cabin. "That was a good dinner!" Mario said.

"I'm still surprised you can even move with all that food you've eaten over the past few days!" Luigi said.

"Well, I won't be able to move if I don't get some sleep!" Mario said. "I'll take the bottom bunk, since I have the top bunk at home." Luigi turned off the lamp and climbed onto the top bunk. Both brothers quickly fell asleep to the clickety-clack of the steel wheels of the Excess Express on the polished rails.

A few minutes later, though, Luigi woke up and sighed. He climbed down the bunk bed and turned the lamp back on, saying, "Sorry, Mario, but I've got to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." Expecting to hear a response, but not getting one after several seconds, Luigi asked, "Mario?" He then turned to look at his brother and saw Mario laying limp on the bed, with one of his arms off the side, his eyes staring straight up and his mouth open agape! "Mario!" Luigi exclaimed as he rushed to his brother. "Oh no, oh no, oh no…" Luigi repeated to himself as he checked for Mario's pulse, which was getting weaker by the second. Mario's face took on a slight purple hue, and Luigi realized that his brother was poisoned. "Oh no!" he exclaimed as he quickly took out a Refreshing Herb and fed it to his brother. However, Mario's symptoms worsened instead of getting better. At this, Luigi burst out of the cabin, screaming, "HELP! MARIO'S BEEN POISONED! HELP!"

Ghost T, the inhabitant of cabin 4, materialized next to Luigi. "Gah, what is it?" he asked. "Can't a ghost get any sleep around here?"

"Mario's been poisoned! I already tried using a Refreshing Herb and everything!" Luigi frantically explained, too worried for his brother to even notice that the person he was talking to was a ghost.

"There's Tasty Tonics in the shop in the dining car," Ghost T. said. "They're more powerful than Refreshing Herbs."

"Thanks!" Luigi quickly said as he bolted down to the dining car.

"Gosh…" Ghost T. muttered as he disappeared back into incorporeality.

Luigi rushed towards the Excess Express shop. To his dismay, he found that the door to the shop was locked, with a "CLOSED" sign on it. Not letting that get in the way of saving his brother, though, Luigi burst down the door, quickly grabbed a Tasty Tonic, and ran faster than he had ever ran before back to cabin 5. By this time, Mario was beginning to foam at the mouth, and his face was purple. Luigi nearly burst the door down in trying to get in, and he poured the Tasty Tonic down Mario's throat as quickly as he could. "Come on, please survive, please survive, please survive…" Luigi repeated to himself as he hoped that he was fast enough to save Mario.

After a few minutes had passed, Mario's eyes blinked. "Mario?" Luigi asked hopefully. A few seconds later, Mario pulled his arm back up onto the bed, and slowly sat up.

"Agh…" Mario said as he rubbed his forehead. "What happened?"

"Oh, thank goodness! You're alive!" Luigi exclaimed as he threw himself towards Mario and began crying as he hugged his brother.

Mario blinked in surprise and said, "Yeah…I'm alive." A few minutes later, when Luigi had composed himself, Mario asked again, "What happened?"

"Someone tried to poison you," Luigi said. "It's a good thing I had to go to the bathroom, because if I hadn't seen you, you probably wouldn't have had much time left!"

"Who do you think would do that?" Mario asked.

"I don't know," Luigi said. "All I know is that I'm definitely making sure we're secure in here." Luigi locked the door, locked the deadbolt, and moved the drawer holding the lamp in front of the door.

"We have to find out who did this," Mario said, trying to get up.

Luigi rushed to his brother and moved him back onto the bed, saying, "You have to get rest. We'll find out who did this in the morning."

Mario nodded and laid back down. Luigi checked the door one more time, then climbed up onto the top bunk and fell asleep. Just outside of the cabin, the cloaked figure was listening in on the conversation. "Drat," it muttered. "They're onto me. I'll have to be more careful in my next attempt. Well, I still have a couple things in my bag of tricks…" With that, the figure slipped back into the shadows.

The next morning, a meeting of all the train staff and passengers had been called on the engineer's car. "Alright," the train engineer said, "someone tried to assassinate Mario last night." Small gasps came out from the assembled audience. "We need to find out who it was."

A Toad quickly pointed at a Koopa and shouted, "I'll bet it was you, Trooper! Your kind hates the Mario Brothers!"

Trooper, the Koopa that the Toad was pointing to, said defensively, "I didn't do it! I just stayed in my cabin yesterday! And I would never hurt Mario! I'm a peaceful Koopa! Unlike some other members of my species, I admire and respect Mario and Luigi!"

"Can we please keep from making baseless accusations?" Mario asked. "We need solid evidence. Does anyone have any idea who it might be? Anyone who's been acting strange or whatnot?"

Everyone shook their heads, but then one Yoshi said, "Oh! I remember hearing noises from cabin 8 last night while I was trying to sleep."

The train conductor said, "That's impossible. Cabin 8 isn't assigned to anyone on this trip."

"That's why it's suspicious," the Yoshi said.

"Luigi and I will check out cabin 8," Mario said. "In the meantime, everyone else should be especially careful. We don't know if this person plans to assassinate anyone else."

"By the way," the train engineer said, "we're coming up on Riverside Station. We'll take a short break there to refuel."

As the train pulled into Riverside Station and stopped, Mario and Luigi made their way to cabin 8. They opened the door, which was surprisingly unlocked, and stepped into the cabin, which was devoid of any passengers or passenger luggage. Mario and Luigi began looking around the room, searching for any suspicious things, when suddenly, Luigi kicked his foot on something. "Ah!" he exclaimed as he jumped backwards. Mario ran up to Luigi and looked at where he kicked this foot, but nothing was there.

Mario knelt down and felt the area for a moment, before his hands found an object that felt like leather, but still, nothing could be seen there. "This thing must have some sort of invisibility spell on it," Mario said.

Just then, Luigi cried out, "Mario!" Mario dropped to the floor and narrowly avoided a dagger being thrust towards him! Mario performed a sweeping kick along the floor, knocking the assailant off its feet. The figure stood up and revealed itself to be a Koopa, but it was still cloaked in the shadows and Mario couldn't make out any details.

The Koopa ran out of the cabin. Mario shouted, "Get back here!" He and Luigi chased after their would-be assassin, racing down the halls of the train until the Koopa got off and started running inside Riverside Station. Mario and Luigi followed him into the main room and saw him disappear behind the door to the side. Mario and Luigi followed him into the next room and heard a door opening from above them. They raced up the steps and went into the next room, which was the other side of the clock on the station. Large gears and other mechanical devices whirred and spun, powering the clock. Mario and Luigi jumped up the stairs and jumped across four gears which span, providing a bridge over to the next ledge. Mario and Luigi rolled under large spinning gears and searched the area for the Koopa.

"Where is he?" Luigi asked. Just then, they heard something from the gear they had rolled under, and saw the Koopa rolling under it to the other side! Mario and Luigi dashed back under the gear and chased him down, exiting the room. The Koopa jumped over the railing and ducked into his shell, softening the fall, before dashing back into the entrance room. Mario and Luigi jumped over the railing and landed elegantly on their feet, before racing into the entrance room. As they entered the room, they looked around for the Koopa, but didn't see him. "Think he left the station?" Luigi asked.

"No," Mario said. "If he did, we would've heard the front door opening." Mario went up to the elevator and said, "The elevator's not here. He probably took it down to the bottom level."

"Aw," Luigi said. "The elevator will take so long to come back up. How are we going to catch him now?"

"Don't worry," Mario said. "The elevator leads to a dead end room. We've got him cornered."

Mario pushed the elevator button, and after a few seconds, the elevator came back up. Mario and Luigi got in it and rode it to the bottom floor, where they exited and started scanning the room for the Koopa. Mario walked out to the middle of the room to search for him while Luigi guarded the elevator. "Come out!" Mario called out. "There's no other exits. You're cornered!"

Just then, Luigi was bonked on the head by a cudgel, and the elevator doors opened! "Stop!" Mario shouted as he ran back towards the elevator. However, he wasn't fast enough, as the Koopa got in and the elevator started going up before Mario could reach it. "Are you okay, bro?" Mario asked as he helped Luigi up.

"Yeah, I'm fine…what's that noise?" A shrill hissing sound was coming from the other corner of the room. Mario and Luigi looked to the source of the sound and saw a purple gas coming up from a shattered vial!

"Poison gas!" Mario shouted. He slammed his hand into the elevator button, summoning it to come back down. Mario and Luigi stood with their backs to the elevator door as the poisonous gas started quickly spreading throughout the room and getting closer and closer to them. As the gas got ever closer to them, they took deep breaths of the air that was still pure and held their breath as the gas began to envelop them.

Just then, the elevator doors opened! Mario and Luigi practically fell over each other trying to get in the elevator, and Mario pushed the ground floor button as quickly as possible, closing the elevator doors and sending the elevator going up before any poisonous gas could make it inside. "Phew…" Mario wiped his brow in relief.

"Uh, Mario…" Luigi said as he pointed to the corner of the elevator. Another shattered vial was sitting there, with more poisonous gas coming out of it!

"Oh, shoot…" Mario said. "We're not going to make it to the ground floor before that gas envelops the entire elevator!"

"What do we do?!" Luigi asked.

Mario took out two Refreshing Herbs, gave one to Luigi, and said, "Eat one of these, hold your breath, and hope we survive this."

Mario and Luigi quickly gulped down the Refreshing Herbs and held their breaths. The gas slowly creeped up throughout the elevator and encompassed the Mario Bros. They put their hands over their noses to prevent the gas from slithering up their nostrils, but they still began to feel very lightheaded and nauseated.

Just then, the elevator stopped, and the door opened! Mario and Luigi didn't even wait for the elevator door to open fully and barged out of it, running to the exit and slamming the doors shut behind them. They let out numerous gasps of relief, relishing the clean air that they were breathing. "Phew…" they both said.

"Agh…" Mario said. "He got away…"

"At least we're still alive," Luigi said. "I still feel like throwing up…"

Suddenly, a voice boomed out from a mega speaker, "Attention Excess Express passengers! The Excess Express has finished its refueling and is prepared to leave for Poshley Heights!"

"Let's get back onto the train," Mario said. "We'll have to be extra careful tonight and see if we can find the assassin tomorrow."

"Yeah," Luigi said as the two began making their way back on the train.

The next day, Mario and Luigi were awoken by a loud voice over the intercom, "Attention Excess Express passengers! We are about to arrive at our final destination, Poshley Heights!"

Mario and Luigi got up, grabbed their backpack, and left the cabin, making their way to the train exit. As they got to the first passenger car where the exit was, the intercom came on again and a voice came out over it, "Attention Excess Express passengers! We have arrived at Poshley Heights! Please watch your step and be sure to take all of your belongings with you! Thank you for riding the Excess Express!"

As the door opened and passengers began filing out of the train, the shadowy Koopa pushed his way through the crowd and jumped onto the train dock! "Hey!" Mario shouted as he and Luigi began chasing the stealthed Koopa. They ran through the city to Poshley Sanctum. "It looks like the Garnet Star is in Poshley Sanctum again," Mario said. "Let's get ready for a battle."

Mario and Luigi entered Poshley Sanctum and saw Pennington, the keeper of the sanctum, knocked out! In front of the pedestal at the end of the sanctum, two shadowy figures stood with the Garnet Star in hand!

"Wahahaha!" one of the shadowy figures laughed. "Too late, Mario Bros! We've got the Garnet Star!"

"You must be Shadow Wario and Shadow Waluigi!" Mario said.

"That's right!" Shadow Waluigi said. "Unlike Shadow Luigi and Shadow Peach, we're not going to waste our time fighting you. We'll just get this Crystal Star back to the boss as quickly as possible!"

A voice then said, "I don't think so!" Just then, a dagger was thrust into Shadow Wario's back! He yelped in pain and fell to the ground, dropping the Garnet Star. The Garnet Star was then picked up by the stealthed Koopa who attempted to assassinate Mario and Luigi! He stepped out of the shadows, and revealed himself to be…

"Larry!" Mario and Luigi shouted.

"Hahahaha!" Larry Koopa, the youngest of the Koopalings, laughed. "That's right! Now, it's time to get this Crystal Star back to King Dad!"

"That Crystal Star belongs to the boss!" Shadow Waluigi said as Shadow Wario got up. "Now, give it back!"

"The Crystal Stars belong to Mario!" Luigi said. "He's the one who gathered them and used them to beat the Shadow Queen, and we want them back!"

"Oh, a three-way battle, then?" Larry asked. "This ought to be interesting!"

"Let's do it!" Mario said.

"Prepare to get destroyed!" Shadow Wario said.

"Alright, then," Larry said, putting the Garnet Star in his shell and taking out two daggers. "Let's do this!"

Mario, Luigi, Shadow Wario, Shadow Waluigi, and Larry all jumped at each other and began attacking each other, beginning the battle for the Garnet Star.


	10. Battle for the Garnet Star

The five combatants all met in the middle of the room, their attacks kicking up a massive cloud of dust as they battled each other. Mario dodged dagger strikes from Larry and sparred with Shadow Wario as Luigi used his hammer to duel with Shadow Waluigi. Mario took out his hammer, charged up energy in the hammerhead for a moment, and then slammed it towards Larry, knocking the Koopaling away. Shadow Wario then pulled his fist back, charged up energy in his fist, and then threw a massive punch at Mario, knocking Mario into the wall.

Luigi attacked Shadow Waluigi diagonally with his hammer, but Shadow Waluigi parried the blow with his arm. Luigi then jumped backwards and formed an orb of lightning in his palm, then shot it at Shadow Waluigi. Shadow Waluigi cried out in pain and spasmed for a few moments as the electricity coursed through him. Luigi leapt back up to Shadow Waluigi and attempted to do a hammer blow, but Shadow Waluigi recovered from being electrified and punched Luigi away.

Just then, Larry emerged from the shadows just behind Shadow Waluigi and thrust a dagger straight into Shadow Waluigi's back! Larry then did a flurry of punches and kicks at Shadow Waluigi, knocking him back a few inches with each attack, before ducking into his shell and slamming into Shadow Waluigi with the spikes of his shell. Shadow Waluigi was thrown into the opposite wall, creating a crack in it.

Mario then jumped up behind Larry and used his hammer to slam the Koopaling into the ground. Before Mario could continue his assault, though, Shadow Wario came barging through with a Shoulder Charge, knocking Mario into the ground! Luigi then did a horizontal hammer swing, knocking away Shadow Wario, but then Shadow Waluigi came up and stomped Luigi into the ground, before stomping into him repeatedly and then doing a powerful kick to send Luigi flying away.

Mario and Larry got up, took out their hammer and daggers, and attacked Shadow Waluigi. Mario pounded Shadow Waluigi's face in with the hammer while Larry stabbed Shadow Waluigi multiple times, before Mario did an uppercut, knocking Shadow Waluigi into the air, then jumped up after him and slammed his hammer down onto Shadow Waluigi, sending him crashing back down onto the ground.

Shadow Wario then charged at Mario, but Luigi jumped in front of Shadow Wario and knocked him away with his hammer. Luigi then jumped after Shadow Wario and slammed his hammer down onto Shadow Wario's face, before knocking him towards Mario, who used his hammer to knock Shadow Wario into the air. Mario jumped up and slammed his hammer into Shadow Wario again, sending him flying to the ground. As Mario landed, Larry attempted to backstab him with one of his daggers, but Mario sidestepped the attack, grabbed Larry by the back of his head, shoved him forward to the ground, hammered Larry's shell, and then sent Larry flying away with a hammer swing.

Shadow Waluigi then jumped up, took out a tennis racquet, and slammed it into Mario's face, sending the hero stumbling back to the ground. Shadow Waluigi slammed his feet into Mario repeatedly, then kicked him away with a large amount of force. Luigi ran at Shadow Waluigi with his hammer out, but Shadow Waluigi parried Luigi's hammer swing with his tennis racquet, kicked Luigi to the ground, grabbed him, threw him up into the air, and slammed his racquet into Luigi, sending Luigi flying into the wall like a tennis ball. Larry then breathed a fireball at Shadow Waluigi, but Shadow Waluigi pulled his racquet back, then slammed it into the fireball full force, sending it zooming back towards Larry and charbroiling the Koopaling.

Mario and Luigi quickly got up and jumped at Shadow Waluigi, but Shadow Wario jumped in Luigi's path, pushed him to the ground, pounded Luigi's face with his fists, and did an uppercut to Luigi's jaw, knocking the green-capped hero away. Shadow Waluigi ducked out of the way of a meteor smash from Mario, then kicked Mario a short distance away. Shadow Waluigi then began spinning around extremely quickly, creating a small tornado. Mario got caught in the tornado and was flung up into the roof, creating a small explosion as he impacted it and then fell to the ground.

Larry then got into his shell and spun at Shadow Wario. Shadow Wario reacted quickly and kicked Larry, sending the Koopaling zooming at Luigi. Luigi panicked and dived out of the way, causing Larry to hit the wall and ricochet towards Mario. Mario charged up a kick, then shot Larry towards Shadow Waluigi. Shadow Waluigi placed his tennis racquet close to the ground, and as Larry came over it, he quickly pulled it up, sending Larry flying into the air upside down. Shadow Waluigi then jumped up and slammed his feet down onto the underside of Larry's shell, sending the Koopaling flying to the ground. Larry got out of his shell with a dazed expression on his face and began slowly spinning around aimlessly.

Luigi took out his hammer and prepared to finish off Larry, but just then, a motorcycle barreled into Luigi, sending Luigi flying to the side! Shadow Wario did a hard turn on his motorcycle to avoid hitting the wall, causing inertia to fling him off the bike. Shadow Wario quickly got up, grabbed his motorcycle, and threw it at Mario. Mario caught the motorcycle, his legs buckling under the new weight they were suddenly forced to carry, then threw it back at Shadow Wario. Shadow Wario's mouth went agape before his own motorcycle hit him dead-on, sending him crumpling to the ground beneath it.

With Shadow Wario struggling to get up and Larry dazed, the Mario Bros had an opening to use one of their signature Bros Attacks. Luigi jumped towards Mario and slammed his hammer down onto Mario's head, shrinking Mario. Luigi then hit Mario with his hammer, sending the miniaturized Mario flying towards Shadow Waluigi. Mario slammed into Shadow Waluigi, causing the shadowy counterpart of Waluigi to stumble back in pain. Larry then recovered from his dizziness, slinked into the shadows, and emerged right behind Mario, attempting to backstab him. Mario arced his body forward to avoid the attack, then turned around and threw Larry to the ground, before Luigi jumped up and swept his hammer across the ground, knocking Larry away.

The Shadow Wario Bros got up and ran at the Mario Bros at full speed. Luigi fired an orb of electricity at Shadow Waluigi, paralyzing him. Luigi began charging up an even bigger orb of electricity as Shadow Wario did a Shoulder Charge towards Mario. Mario took out his hammer and swung it horizontally at Shadow Wario, sending him flying at Shadow Waluigi. Luigi then fired his orb of electricity, which was over a meter in diameter by now, at the Shadow Wario Bros, creating a large electrical explosion and paralyzing both of them.

Mario then took out the Ruby Star and used Art Attack. Mario used his finger to trace several circles around the Shadow Wario Bros, managing to draw five circles around them. The circles then exploded, knocking out Shadow Waluigi and severely damaging Shadow Wario!

"Agh…you guys are tough," Shadow Wario said. He then took out a Mushroom that was completely black. He ate the Shadow Shroom, recovering his health, and said, "But it's game over for you now!" Shadow Wario charged at Luigi. Luigi sidestepped out of the way, but Shadow Wario kept going and bowled into Mario, knocking him to the ground! Mario wrestled Shadow Wario over so that he was on the ground, but Shadow Wario pushed Mario off of him, throwing him into the air, then got up, jumped after Mario, and meteor smashed him into the ground, creating a small explosion.

Larry then slammed into Luigi with the spiked part of his shell, sending Luigi flying towards Shadow Wario. Shadow Wario grabbed Luigi in midair, threw him onto the ground, and pummeled him before grabbing him, holding him up in the air, and throwing him down onto the ground. Just then, Mario came up from behind Shadow Wario and swung his hammer at him, but Shadow Wario turned around, parried the attack with his arm, grabbed Mario by the neck, and used his other arm to wrest control of Mario's hammer away from him. Shadow Wario then threw Mario up into the air, jumped up after him, and slammed Mario's hammer into him, sending Mario flying into a wall.

Shadow Wario then threw Mario's hammer at Luigi. Luigi pulled up his own hammer to deflect the attack, but Larry slammed his shell into Luigi again, knocking Luigi up into the air. Larry then took out his tennis racquet and slammed it into Luigi as Luigi came down, serving Luigi to Shadow Wario like a tennis ball. Shadow Wario sidestepped Luigi as Luigi flew into the ground. Shadow Wario then slammed his fist into Luigi's back, grabbed him, held him up, pulled back his fist, and delivered a charged punch right to Luigi's face, sending Luigi flying into the wall. A small explosion occurred as Luigi slumped to the ground; when the smoke cleared, Luigi had been knocked out.

"Luigi!" Mario shouted. He looked at Shadow Wario with newfound fiery determination in his eyes. Mario zoomed at Shadow Wario and slammed him into the ground. Mario then began punching Shadow Wario as fast as he could, but Larry slammed into Mario and knocked him away. Shadow Wario got up, but Larry quickly breathed a fireball at Shadow Wario. Shadow Wario ducked to try to avoid the fireball, but Larry jumped above it and used his tennis racquet to send it towards Shadow Wario, incinerating him. Larry then slammed his tennis racquet into Shadow Wario, sending Shadow Wario flying away. Larry did a leap to catch up to Shadow Wario and began punching, kicking, and clawing Shadow Wario in midair. Mario leapt at Larry with his fist pulled back in an attempt to attack him while his back was turned. Mario prepared to land the meteor smash, when suddenly, Larry disappeared into the shadows! Mario landed the meteor smash onto Shadow Wario instead, sending him slamming into the ground.

Larry then emerged from the shadows behind Mario and thrust a dagger into him, causing Mario to yelp in pain. Mario fell to the floor, but quickly rolled away from a kick from Larry. As Mario got up, he began to feel the venom embedded onto Larry's weapon seep through his bloodstream and veins. He used a Refreshing Herb to cure his affliction, and then ate a Super Shroom to recover health. Feeling completely refreshed, Mario dashed at Larry and uppercut the Koopaling in the jaw. Mario then jumped on Larry's stomach, grabbed the Koopaling, threw him up into the air, and slammed him towards Shadow Wario using his hammer. Shadow Wario grabbed Larry in midair and pummeled him repeatedly with his fists, before throwing him down, ground pounding him, and throwing him back at Mario.

Mario grabbed Larry and did a series of quick punches and kicks, before spinning around quickly, hitting Larry multiple times before bashing him into the air. Shadow Wario jumped up and meteor smashed Larry towards Mario before landing a short distance away. Mario took out his hammer and slammed Larry towards Shadow Wario, who punched him back towards Mario. Mario and Shadow Wario continued playing tennis with Larry as the ball for a few seconds before Shadow Wario uppercut Larry into the air instead of returning him to Mario, jumped high into the air, and did a powerful gravity-assisted meteor smash into Larry, causing Larry to slam into the ground and create a small explosion as he did so, knocking out Larry.

With the battle now a one-on-one fight, Mario ran at Shadow Wario and delivered a powerful punch to him, sending Shadow Wario faltering back a few steps. However, Shadow Wario quickly recovered, and as Mario threw another punch at his shadowy rival, Shadow Wario caught Mario's arm with his fist and threw Mario down onto the ground. Shadow Wario then ground pounded Mario, and as Mario attempted to recover, grabbed him and threw him into the wall.

Mario struggled to stand back up, but when he saw Shadow Wario barreling towards him with a Shoulder Charge attack, he quickly rolled to the side at the last second, causing Shadow Wario to slam into the wall. Mario then shot at Shadow Wario and did a flurry of punches and kicks on him, culminating in a Mario Tornado maneuver that knocked Shadow Wario into the air. Mario then leapt into the air and prepared to meteor smash Shadow Wario, but Shadow Wario recovered, grabbed Mario, and slammed Mario into the ground headfirst! Mario was thrown a short distance away and was dazed by the force of the impact.

Shadow Wario prepared to lay the finishing blow as he grabbed Mario, pummeled Mario's face with fists, and then threw Mario out through a window. The glass of the window shattered as Mario flew through it and landed roughly on the grass and dirt outside of Poshley Sanctum. Struggling to maintain consciousness, Mario looked up and saw Shadow Wario preparing to ground pound him. Mario rolled out of the way just barely in time, stood up despite the terrible pain that was raging through his body, and used the Thunder Rage he had. A bolt of lightning shot down onto Shadow Wario, causing him to cry out in pain as the electricity coursed through his body and temporarily paralyzed him. Mario then took out the Ruby Star and performed Art Attack, drawing as many circles around Shadow Wario as he could while the enemy was paralyzed. The circles then blew up in a massive explosion, and when the dust cleared, Shadow Wario laid on the ground defeated.

"YES!" Mario cried in jubilation. Finally, the Mario Bros had outright defeated their shadowy adversaries in combat! Mario wiped his brow in relief and walked back inside Poshley Sanctum. He reached into the shell of the knocked out Larry and retrieved the Garnet Star, collecting his third Crystal Star!

Mario then went to Luigi and shook his brother gently to wake him up. "Ah…what happened?" Luigi asked.

"We did it, Luigi," Mario said. "We got the Garnet Star!"

"Alright!" Luigi said. He tried to leap to his feet, but cried out as a jolt of pain shot through his leg and caused him to fall to the floor again.

"Woah, easy," Mario said. "That was a tough battle. We'll need some time to recover from it."

"Yeah…" Luigi said as Mario slowly helped him to his feet.

"Let's find out where the next Crystal Star is," Mario said. He took out the Magical Map and the Garnet Star. The Garnet Star floated above the Magical Map and shot a beam of light into it, inscribing the image of a floating city in the sky onto it. "Glitzville is where the next Crystal Star is," Mario said as he put the Magical Map and Garnet Star back into his backpack. "I participated in a ranking tournament there and got the Gold Star on my last adventure."

"More fighting," Luigi said. "Let's hope the battles in Glitzville are easier than the battle we just had."

Mario nodded as he and Luigi made their way back to the Excess Express platform to begin the three day trip back to Rogueport. Meanwhile, a Shadow Goomba who was hiding behind the pedestal in the sanctum came out of hiding and said into a radio, "Um, boss? I have some news, but you're not going to like it…"

"The Shadow Wario Bros failed?" the person on the other end of the radio asked.

"Yep," the Shadow Goomba says. "Can't say I blame them, though…that was a pretty wild battle."

"Hmm…these Mario Bros are more of a threat than I first thought," the leader of the Shadows said, "The next Crystal Star is in Glitzville, correct?"

"That's right, boss," the Shadow Goomba said.

"Good. I know of one person who is better at ring fighting than anyone else in our armies. Shadow Donkey Kong will quite easily defeat Mario at Glitzville and claim the Crystal Stars. In the meantime, continue your scouting,"

"Yes, boss," the Shadow Goomba said.


	11. Return to the Arena

Author's Note: There will not be a chapter published next week. The next chapter will be released on April 22.

UPDATE: Sorry, but something unexpected happened, and I won't be able to publish this week. I'll release the next chapter as soon as I can, or at least by the 29th.

* * *

Mario and Luigi were in line for the blimp which took tourists to Glitzville. They had just recently departed the Excess Express, having used the three day journey to rest and recover from the rigors of the battle they had fought over the Garnet Star. They then went back to the Pianta Syndicate's headquarters and obtained two Blimp Tickets from Frankie, and were now waiting for the next chapter of their journey to begin.

"Next!" the Cheep Cheep attendant called out. As Mario and Luigi came up, he asked, "Tickets?" Mario and Luigi showed him their tickets, and he made a punch hole in them. "You're good to go. Next!"

Mario and Luigi went down the warp pipe that led to the blimp and boarded it. A few minutes later, the blimp lifted up into the air and soared towards Glitzville. When they got close, Mario and Luigi saw that Glitzville had expanded greatly since Mario had last been there. The blimp landed, and as they got off, they saw a sign advertising the annual Glitz Pit tournament, which only needed one more entrant, and the grand prize for winning the tournament: the Emerald Star!

"Well, looks like we got here just in time!" Luigi said.

"Let's go register!" Mario said. Mario and Luigi dashed inside the Glitz Pit Main Hall.

As Mario and Luigi walked through the main hall, which had been renovated since Mario was last here and was far more spacious and glamorous, there were several people whispering to each other, "Hey! Look! It's the Great Gonzales!" Mario and Luigi finally reached Jolene's office.

The guard in front of the door asked, "Here to register for the tournament?" Mario and Luigi nodded. The guard stepped to the side and said, "Go right ahead." Mario knocked on the door and opened it.

Mario and Luigi entered the room. As Jolene saw them come in, she exclaimed, "The Great Gonzales! What a surprise! What brings you back to Glitzville?"

"I'm here to register for the tournament!" Mario said.

"Well, there's only one slot left, so you came at the right time," Jolene said. "I'll register you for the tournament as the Great Gonzales. Give me a few minutes."

As Jolene entered the information into her computer, Mario said, "Glitzville has gotten a lot bigger since I last came."

"It sure has," Jolene said. "Ever since you beat Rawk Hawk and became champion, popularity for this place exploded. The Glitz Pit became so popular that we were sponsored by Irdnial Corp, one of the most successful companies in Rogueport."

"Irdnial Corp?" Mario asked. "I don't remember anything about them on my last adventure here."

"They're a robotics and manufacturing company based in Wario Land," Jolene said. "They set up a secondary headquarters here after you defeated the Shadow Queen. They're the ones who gave us the idea to create an annual elimination tournament separate from the normal ranking tournament that you participated in, and they've entered their own fighter into the tournament: Nax Roge."

"Nax Roge?" Luigi repeated.

"Yep," Jolene said. "He's a super-powered fighter that has prosthetic limbs created by Irdnial Corp. They say that his robotic arms give him the striking strength of a mammoth, and his robotic legs let him run faster than a cheetah. He's even had his brain modified with Irdnial technology to give him faster mental acuity and reflexes. He's quite possibly the most powerful person in the tournament, and betting odds currently show him as the hand-down favorite to win."

"Not anymore he isn't!" Mario confidently said.

"I wouldn't be so sure of yourself," Jolene said. "I know you're the one who defeated the Shadow Queen, but Nax is something else. You can see him in action right now if you want; he's about to begin his first round match. Want to go see?"

"Alright," Mario said. "Lead the way."

Jolene got up and led Mario and Luigi out of the room. They went out to the main hall and entered the arena from the main spectator entrance.

The Glitz Pit arena had been severely expanded from the last time Mario fought in it. While the ring itself was the same, there was much more audience seating, and the roof had been removed to allow camera Lakitus to film the battles and stream them to televisions across the Glitz Pit, allowing even people who weren't physically spectating to view the match. Above the ring, a floating box was suspended in the air, where two announcers sat. One of the announcers, a Lakitu, said, "Welcome everyone, to the premiere match of the first annual Glitz Pit tournament!" This was met by a roar of cheering and clapping from the massive crowd. "This match sees two powerhouses going at each other in the first round! Entering from the west side, it's the Unstoppable Annihilator, Nax Roge!" The crowd cheered and clapped even more as a human covered fully in blue-colored metallic armor, with the exception of a green visor on his helmet, walked onto the stage.

"And coming in from the east side, it's the one who delivered the Great Gonzales his first and only defeat, Red Iron Cleft!" A large blue-colored Cleft with red shoes walked into the arena. His brother, Green Iron Cleft, stood off to the side of the arena.

The other announcer, a Snifit, asked, "Before the match begins, would they like to say anything to each other?"

Red Iron Cleft shouted at Nax, "You are about to be in a world of pain!"

Nax smirked and said, "We shall see."

The referee, a Fire Bro, counted to three, and then said, "Let the match begin!"

Nax and Red Cleft charged towards each other. They met in the middle of the ring, and Red Cleft attempted to slam his spike into Nax. Nax sidestepped the attack and kicked Red Cleft upwards into the air. Nax then jumped up after him and slammed his hands into Red Cleft, meteor smashing him into the ground. Nax landed a good distance away from Red Cleft and pointed his arm out at him. A missile launcher suddenly protruded up from his armor, and a missile was fired towards Red Cleft! The missile exploded onto the Iron Cleft, flipping him over.

"Brother!" Green Cleft shouted from the sidelines. "You can do it!" Spurred on by his brother, Red Cleft got up and began to charge at Nax. Before he could react, though, Nax was suddenly behind him! Nax did a charged punch at Red Cleft's back, knocking Red Cleft into the roof. A hookshot then extended from Nax's arm and grabbed the Red Cleft, pulling him back into the arena. Nax then thrust his arm down, smashing the Red Cleft into the ground!

"No! Brother!" Green Cleft shouted. "That's it! I don't care if this is breaking the rules or not!" The Green Cleft jumped up into the arena and started to charge at Nax! The referee leapt at him in an attempt to stop him, but Green Cleft knocked him away with a body slam. The referee quickly got up and breathed several fireballs at Green Cleft, but they all were effortlessly absorbed by Green Cleft's iron body. Green Cleft then body slammed the referee again, knocking him out.

Green Cleft turned to face Nax, but Nax was already in front of him and delivered a punch to Green Cleft. Red Cleft charged at Nax, but Nax kicked him away with ease and proceeded to deliver a flurry of punches to Green Cleft. Nax then uppercut Green Cleft into the air and pointed his arm up at him. A rocket launcher then came out of Nax's armor, and two small rockets were fired at Green Cleft! The rockets hit their target and exploded, sending small chunks of iron flying off the Cleft's body and causing Green Cleft to fall to the ground unconscious.

Red Cleft charged at Nax again. The rocket launcher retreated back into Nax's armor, and out of his other arm, a minigun came up. The minigun began firing bullets at Red Cleft at an amazingly fast rate. Red Cleft tanked through the bullets as best he could until he reached Nax and prepared to smash his spike into him, but Nax sidestepped the attack and quickly planted a small device on Red Cleft. Nax leapt away and then pushed a button on his armor. Red Cleft then exploded!

"Oh! And Nax wins the match!" the Lakitu announcer said. "It seems that he pinned an explosive device onto Red Cleft, and that was what ended it all!" The audience cheered and clapped, and Nax silently left the arena.

A few minutes later, Mario and Luigi were back in Jolene's office. "Now you know what you're up against," Jolene said.

Luigi said, "I don't think the Armored Harriers even got a single hit in against Nax…"

"With the Crystal Stars on my side, I should be able to take him on," Mario said.

"Well, if both you and Nax win all of your matches, you'll face each other in the semifinals," Jolene said. "You'd better prepare for your first round match right now, though."

"Who's it against?" Mario asked.

"I think you know him," Jolene said. "Tubba Blubba is your first round opponent."

"Tubba Blubba?" Mario repeated. "Well, as long as he still has his heart inside him, he should be pretty easy."

"You can head over to the locker rooms to prepare," Jolene said. "The match is in one hour. Good luck." Mario and Luigi nodded and left the office.

An hour later, Mario and Luigi were outside of the doors leading to the arena, preparing to enter it. Inside the arena, the stands were filled with people, and the Lakitu announcer said, "Welcome all to the second battle in the first annual Glitz Pit tournament! This battle is shaping up to be even more exciting than the last one, as it marks the return of the one, the only…GREAT GONZALES!"

Just outside the arena, a security guard next to Mario and Luigi heard a beeping on his radio, and said, "Time for you to enter the arena."

Mario and Luigi opened the doors and stepped inside the arena. The crowd erupted into cheering as the Great Gonzales stepped back into the arena. Mario jumped up onto the stage as Luigi went onto the sidelines to spectate. The Snifit announcer said, "And our second combatant this time, the cousin of Grubba, give it up for Tubba Blubba!"

A huge blue Clubba jumped onto the arena floor. He exclaimed, "Mario! It's been a while."

"It has," Mario said. "How are things at Gusty Gulch?"

"Oh, you know. Ever since you beat me, I've been living with the Boos peacefully. I entered this tournament to refine my fighting skills, and now it's time for me to get revenge on you!"

"Don't bet on it!" Mario said, taking up a fighting stance.

The new referee, a Sledge Bro, counted to three, and then said, "Fight!"

Mario rushed at Tubba Blubba with his hammer drawn. He jumped up and slammed his hammer down onto Tubba Blubba, but Tubba parried the attack with one arm and grabbed Mario with the other. Tubba threw Mario down onto the ground and then attempted to stomp him with his foot, but Mario rolled out of the way and shot a stream of fireballs at Tubba from his hand. Tubba roared in pain as the fireballs burned his skin. He jumped up into the air and did a ground pound onto Mario's position; Mario just barely rolled out of the way, causing a huge crack to form in the arena floor. Mario did a spin jump on Tubba's head, then bounced up and did a ground pound before jumping a short distance away. As he jumped to the ground, Mario shot another stream of fireballs at Tubba, and when he landed, he quickly shot at Tubba again with his hammer out. Tubba swiped at Mario with his arm, but Mario jumped to the side to dodge and then used his hammer to deliver a painful uppercut to Tubba's jaw, causing the oversized Clubba to stagger back in pain.

Tubba then clasped his hands together and slammed his arms down onto the arena floor, sending shockwaves emanating out from it! Mario jumped over the shockwaves, but Tubba ground pounded Mario's position, causing Mario to roll away directly into a shockwave. Tubba then charged at Mario. Mario wasn't able to move quickly enough, and Tubba grabbed him, held him in the air, and punched him repeatedly before slamming him into the floor and stomping him. He then threw Mario into the walls of the Glitz Pit, outside the arena floor.

Mario got up and jumped back into the ring with his hammer drawn. He smashed his hammerhead onto Tubba's noggin, causing Tubba to stumble back a bit. Mario then swung his hammer at Tubba multiple times, knocking the huge Clubba back a bit with each blow, before charging up for two seconds and delivering a huge blow to Tubba, sending him falling down and skidding across the arena floor. Tubba got up and quickly jumped at Mario, attempting to ground pound his opponent. Mario quickly dived out of the way and then threw a flurry of fireballs at Tubba. The fireballs seared Tubba's skin as they contacted with him, but he tanked through the pain and charged at Mario. Tubba grabbed Mario and threw him up into the air, before leaping up into the air himself and preparing to do a meteor smash.

Mario realized that a charged meteor smash from someone with as much mass as Tubba Blubba was almost sure to be a knockout blow, so Mario quickly put up his hammer and prepared to block the attack. Tubba slammed his fists down onto Mario, but Mario blocked the smash with his hammerhead. They fell back onto the arena floor, kicking up a small patch of dust, and continued struggling against each other, Tubba attempting to lay a knockout punch while Mario poured all his force into holding his opponent's attack at bay. Mario then dodged to the side and pulled his hammer back quickly, causing Tubba to fly forward with his full mass onto the arena floor. Mario then smashed his hammer into Tubba's face with enough force to knock Tubba backwards up into the air. Mario then jumped above Tubba and used his hammer to deliver a charged meteor smash, sending Tubba flying down and creating a large explosion as he impacted the ground. When the dust cleared, Tubba Blubba was unconscious.

"The Great Gonzales is the winner!" the Sledge Bro referee announced. The crowd broke into applause and cheering as Luigi jumped up to the ring and stood next to Mario, who was waving to the crowd after making his triumphant return to the Glitz Pit.

A few minutes later, Mario and Luigi were in Jolene's office. "Congratulations, Mr. Mario," she said. "Here's your prize money." She took out a sack of 125 blue coins and handed them to Mario.

Luigi said to his brother, "That wasn't too bad, was it?" Mario shook his head.

"It's only going to get harder from here," Jolene warned. "From what I understand, Tubba Blubba didn't have any real experience fighting beyond when he fought you at Gusty Gulch. His only real fight before then was when he battled you, and you easily won that."

"Who's my next opponent?" Mario asked.

"You know him," Jolene said. "Rawk Hawk will be your round two opponent, and he's desperate to get revenge after losing his title to you. He's been training hard ever since you left Rogueport, and if you're not careful, he could end up actually winning."

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen," Mario said. "When's the match?"

"Tomorrow at noon," Jolene said. "There's a new Toad House inn here in Glitzville; you can stay there until the match. Good luck."

"Thanks!" Mario said. He and Luigi left Jolene's office, prepared to face their next challenge.


End file.
